


Concealed Confession

by RikuKingdomHearts3



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Angst, Denial of Feelings, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Riku's feelings for Sora, Slow Build, Suppressed Feelings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-04
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:22:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 24,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21673636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RikuKingdomHearts3/pseuds/RikuKingdomHearts3
Summary: Riku and Kairi were waiting for Sora to meet up with them. They were all going to go to the smaller island just off from the main land for their one day of rest. Tomorrow was the big battle against Xehanort and they needed all the rest that they could get. One finally day to relax and talk about whatever could be on their minds.Though what Riku wasn't expecting was to hear Kairi tell him, “I’m going to share the paopu fruit with Sora when we get to the island today.”And hearing that nearly broke his heart.
Relationships: Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 62
Kudos: 143





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... I came up with this right before I fell asleep last night. Poor me with the sad feels wouldn't leave so I had to write it out as soon as I could.

“I’m going to share the paopu fruit with Sora when we get to the island today.”

Riku’s heart nearly came to a stop when he heard these words. Had he even heard them right? Could that really be what Kairi just said to him. Slowly he turned to face her and he saw her smiling happily. With all the strength he had, he kept his face straight and calm, trying not to show how her words had affected him. 

“Oh yeah?”

Kairi nodded with a hum. “After all we have been through and with that battle coming tomorrow, I feel now is a better time than any. Just don’t tell Sora, heh. I want to surprise him.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t,” Riku said, his voice lowering into a whisper. 

Riku breathed out slowly as he looked at the ocean before them. The two of them were standing at the docks to take their boats out to the smaller island. They only had today to relax before the final battle and they all had agreed they would go out to the island together and relax. 

Though now new thoughts were plaguing Riku’s mind. Things he didn’t want to have to think about that. They were things that started to weigh down his mind as well as his heart. He didn’t want to keep thinking about what Kairi had said, but the words swirled around his mind. 

He didn’t want to continue more on the conversation, knowing how it was only going to hurt his heart further, but he had to ask. He had to know more, at least by a little. “I guess you’ve been thinking about this for a while?”

Kairi nodded again. “Yeah, it’s been on my mind for some time now. He’s always looked out for me, and has done so much for me over these past couple of years.”

_ “And I’ve done so much for him…” _ Riku thought to himself, but didn’t speak aloud about it, letting Kairi continue. 

“He’s cared a lot about me before either of us probably even realized it. You know those cave drawings we did as kids? Sora and I drew each other once, then one day after Sora saved me and got me back home, I saw that he had added something to it. It was him handing a paopu fruit to me.”

_ “Yeah… I saw it…” _ Riku internally sighed.  _ “And you drew handing a paopu fruit back to him.” _

“So I added me handing a paopu fruit back to him on the drawing, and that is when I figured we would have to try it sometime. I just never got to asking him before, but I am going to try now.”

“Sounds like you got it all figured out,” Riku replied, his voice almost wavering, but he tried his hardest to keep it from showing. 

“Oh! Wait, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize how much I was rambling on it. I know you and Sora used to fight over me from time to time. I hope this isn’t too weird to talk about,” Kairi said as she looked down at the ground. 

“No… it’s not that. I just didn’t expect it. It’s all right though,” Riku said, trying to smile as best as he could despite how painful it felt. “I’m happy that you figured it out.”

“You sure?” Kairi said raising her head back up. 

“Yeah, I am just glad that you’re happy,” Riku said smiling once more. “I’ve always looked out for the both of you. As long as you two are happy, that makes me happy.”

It wasn’t a total lie. He did want his friends to be happy no matter what, but it didn't mean he was entirely okay with what he was hearing. He was trying his hardest to just feel happy for them and nothing else, but there was still a lingering pain in his heart that wouldn’t be leaving any time soon. 

“Thanks Riku, I’m glad you understand,” Kairi replied. 

“Sure,” Riku said, feeling his voice growing more weary than before. “I… I think I may head to the island first. You know, so you can get to talk to Sora. Besides, I have some things I need to think about for tomorrow.”

Kairi placed a hand on Riku’s arm. “You sure you are going to be all right?”

“Yeah yeah, I just need a little time to myself, that’s all. A lot has happened in only a couple years, and I’ve never really just sat and thought it out,” Riku said, feeling his voice nearly break at the end. He was starting to feel he wouldn’t be able to trust his voice much longer at this rate. 

“Okay Riku, we’ll see you over there, but I’ll be sure to let Sora know you you need some space.”

_ “I wouldn’t mind if he wanted to talk to me though…” _ Riku thought about saying, but instead he said something else. “Thanks Kairi.”

Riku then got into his bow and started to row out to the smaller island. Now that his back was facing the mainland he could finally let the tears fall from his face. They dripped down his chin and fell onto his pant leg. 

_ “If only I could have spoke up. If I could have just told her how I felt about him… would she understand? I should have just told him sooner, though… I guess I may be selfish for thinking it could go that way. They obviously feel the same for each other, and I don’t want to come between that. I only want you two to be happy… that’s what matters. But… these feelings will never go away for you… Sora.”  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So like, I figured out if I should keep the relationship tags, but idk how well it works for this story based on what is going on. Like it is kind of the main focus but nothing in detail will be shown. Let me know though what I should do about that if you guys got any ideas. 
> 
> But there will be more to this, but just starting it off on a short chapter filled with them feelings. Let me know what your thoughts were!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So originally I thought these chapters would all end up being short, but this one just grew to be a bit longer lol  
> Anyways I hope you guys enjoy!

“So why didn’t you tell her about how you feel for him? I don’t understand why you stayed quiet.”

Riku looked at his replica, who technically was sitting next to him. Though really his replica wasn’t there, his spirit was resting within his heart, so it was only a project to give the easiest explanation. On top of that, because the replica was within his heart, he was the only one who could see and hear him. Meaning Sora and Kairi, who were sitting on the paopu tree, wouldn’t see the replica at all. 

Though Riku still talked in a lowered voice, even though he was a bit far from them, he wanted to make sure they didn’t end up thinking he was talking to himself… technically. 

“I just couldn’t,” Riku finally answered. “It’s not my business to butt into their relationship. It’s better this way anyways.”

“You really think it is better to stay quiet and never tell Sora how you feel about him?”

“And if I tell him and he finds it weird or something else? It would just make things awkward between us,” Riku replied softly. “I don’t want to ruin the friendship we have all because I have some measly feelings.”

“The way you talk and think about Sora, I wouldn’t call them measly. I’m resting in your heart, I can sense those feelings. You really do care a lot, far more than you want to let on. Besides, you know Sora, one awkward moment between you two wouldn’t ruin your friendship, he is too understanding and caring to let that happen,” the replica replied. 

Riku knew that was probably true. Sora would find the good in every situation he could. Even if it was a bit strange he would do whatever he could to make the best of it. Though Riku couldn’t get himself to believe it could be true for this. This was something else entirely. 

Having his feelings for Sora was something he had never once brought up to Sora in his entire life. It was something Riku had kept quiet about and made sure to keep quiet until he thought it would be a good time. Now that chance… it was long gone. 

Riku turned his head away slightly, giving a side glance to Kairi and Sora. He could see them sitting on the paopu tree, and for the second time in the day it felt like his heart stopped. 

He saw Kairi holding out a paopu fruit to Sora while also holding another in her own hand. They were obviously talking to one another, but Riku wasn’t able to hear anything from where he sat. He was starting to feel uneasy the longer he stared. Inside his stomach was twisting and he knew that he would have to avert his eyes. The longer he would stare, the worse this inner turmoil would get. 

With all the strength he had turned away and looked back out at the ocean, giving a soft and weak chuckle. Though it was barely even heard, he didn’t even have the strength to manage it. 

“Look at that… they aren’t even doing it right. The legend says for two people to share _one_ with each other, not take a bite from one that the other is holding.”

“So? Go up there and tell them they are doing it wrong. Show they are doing it wrong by sharing one with Sora,” the replica replied. 

Riku initially blushed at the thought of it. Something like that was always something he had thought about. To share a paopu fruit with Sora… if he could go and do that, then maybe the weight could be pulled off of his heart. 

Quickly he shook his head, trying to get all the thoughts out of his head. He couldn't dwell on them for too long or it would only further drown his heart. He stood up, turned and started to walk away without a word. He thought about leaving the islands, leaving Sora and Kairi to have time to themselves, but he knew that would draw too much attention. So instead he walked across the sands to the door that lead to the other side of the island. 

He wanted to give them time by themselves anyways. No need for him to be a third wheel at the start of their relationship. Just as he was about to enter the door he stopped, a small temptation came to turn around and look at them. 

Were they eating the paopu fruit now? Was it really worth it and would it work even if the two of them weren’t doing it correctly? Had they already done that and moved on to the next step that would be in their relationship? How did the fruit of legend taste? What would it be like if he were sitting there sharing it with-

 _“Stop it!”_ Riku scolded himself before pushing the door open and quickly closing it behind him. 

_‘I may not be an expert on relationships, but I don’t think what you are doing is the right choice for you,’_ the replica’s voice said, echoing in Riku’s mind. 

“Just shut up,” Riku grumbled, though there was more sadness than anger in the tone. 

_‘If you were always afraid of those two getting together, why did you never let Sora know before? Or at least drop hints when you were younger?’_

Riku sighed as he walked to the edge of the island part he was standing on. He looked further and saw the rather sketchily made wooden track that he use to race with with Sora. Those were the days… back before Heartless and keyblades. Back whenever things felt so much simpler.

Riku sat down and finally answered the replica. “I was never good at expressing those feelings when I was young. Even back then I wasn’t too sure how Sora would handle it, so I never tried to leave much in the way of hints. I mean, I had tried before, and I had hoped for a time, but...”

Riku placed his hands behind himself as he turned to look up at the sky, which was growing darker with the night sky by the minute. “Days before our home was consumed by darkness I tossed a paopu fruit to Sora, trying to joke around with him. It was a bit of a tease, but secretly I had hope Sora would want to try it in that moment… but instead he just looked confused and tossed it into the water.”

Something twisted inside of Riku when he recalled that memory. How Sora started at it and tried to form some sentences but trailed off. Sure Riku had laughed at it, but it wasn’t because he had made Sora confused by the fruit. He only wanted to try and hide how he felt about it and laughing over the rest of his feelings was the only way he could think of. 

“And then the next day, I thought to test Sora to see if he really felt anything or not. We had a race… and I said the winner would get to share a paopu fruit with Kairi. Once again Sora looked confused and not too sure of what I was saying, almost seemed upset after the race when I passed off what I had said and choose to ignore it. There was a bit of hope there with how he reacted though honestly I couldn't actually tell what he was thinking at the time.”

Riku sighed again, letting himself process through the thoughts. Even though he would have rather crumpled them up and pushed them down, talking it out was helping to a degree. He never thought he would be able to talk about it to anyone, but here he was, talking to the one person who could possibly understand. 

“Then we all know what happened next… I was manipulated and turned against Sora and I put a big dent in our friendship…”

The memories from that time were still something that haunted him from time to time. The way he had been so fooslish and dumb to let the darkness in like that. How hurt Sora had looked when he looked down at Sora and scoffed at him for using the keyblade. 

Those were his cruelest moments he could never take back. Moments he was sure Sora still remembered and maybe though about from time to time. He had never asked Sora what he had thought from that time, his own fears prevented him from ever doing that. 

_‘But didn’t Sora forgive you? And afterwards when searching all over for you and then basically broke down crying when he saw you again?’_

“Yeah, I know but… wait how did you know that? I didn’t tell you that. Are you… searching through my memories?”

The replica finally reappeared besides Riku and shrugged. “Not a lot else I can really do in your heart. But my point still stands or do I need to dig through more instantes in your memories to show you that Sora may actually care more than you think?” 

Riku shook his head. “No… you don’t need to. Yeah I know there have been moments where Sora was rather emotional, but he has always been like that. There’s one thing you are forgetting though…”

“And what’s that?” 

Riku closed his eyes and kept them closed. “The drawings the two of them made in the cave…”

“That’s what you are deeming as that is their official feelings? A drawing in a cave?”

“They recreated their drawing that they made, so I don’t know what else to say, but they have those feelings for eachother. But…” 

Riku opened up his eyes and shook his head, they had already filled up with tears and were ready to leave his eyes. Quickly he wiped they away, he was not going to keep going on about this. If he did he would hurt his heart and it would break and never recover. It already had enough fractures that made it questionable, but he would try all that he could to prevent any further damage. 

“That’s the end of this convo. Sora and Kairi like each other and that’s what it is. I am not going to sit here and mope about it. I’m going to be happy for them, that’s what I want… I just want them to be happy.”

“Even… if it is at the cost of your happiness?” the replica asked quietly.

“I said it before, as long as they are happy, I’ll be happy. As long…” Riku paused slightly, his emotions and thoughts wavering slightly. 

His eyes slowly filled with tears, making everything blurry. He couldn’t understand why this had to be so hard for him, it was only a simple little feeling that he had. One little feeling that taunted him and left him feeling empty and lonely for he knew he could never get what he wanted. He desperately wanted to be able to express and give these feelings to Sora. To let him know that he cared and could give him so much love and affection, that was what Riku wished he could do. He wished he could do all of this and find his happy with Sora, but he knew that was out the door. His chance to even try was gone, but he was going to keep trying as best as he could to keep going. “As long as they don’t forget about me or leave me behind, I’ll be happy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, Repliku is here trying to offer as best advice as he can, but poor Riku still is hurt. There still is more to come though! Stay tuned!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter time! Thank you to all who have left kudos and comments and everything else! I am glad there are those who enjoy his story!

Night had fully come in now, and the stars speckled themselves across the sky. Riku sighed and took in the beauty that was the field of stars and worlds. There were so many other worlds out there, so many more that he had never been to. Then again he had not been to a lot of worlds, not compared to Sora. The sight was still one to behold though. 

Riku only wished he could be sharing this with someone, and he knew exactly who that someone was suppose to be. 

“Now you’re just going to stay out here all night? You know there is a battle tomorrow, right?” the replica asked, looking to Riku who had barely moved an inch from his spot. 

“I know… I just need a little more time, then I’ll be ready,” Riku said before he breathed out heavily. 

He wanted to stay there as long as he could until he could get his feelings sorted out. Or better yet, if he could just get rid of them, it would be so much easier. If he could just get over his feelings and accept that Sora and Kairi were together, then he could move on with this life. 

But… He just couldn’t do it. 

He couldn’t pull himself away from how he felt. Every time he tried to shut the door to what he felt for Sora, he found himself lost instead. Lost staring at that childish and cheerful smile. The bright and caring blue eyes. Even how clueless Sora could be sometimes was rather adorable. Every aspect of Sora was something that Riku cherished and admired. 

How he wished he could just be able to tell Sora these things. He wanted to be able to tell Sora that he loved the way he laughed and smiled. So many different things he wished he could actually say and express to his dear best friend. If only he was so afraid of the possibility of rejection, maybe then he could do it. 

The more he thought about it, the closest he had ever gotten to trying to say it was when he was in the Realm of Darkness with Sora after they defeated Xemnas. 

_ “What I said back there...about thinking I was better at stuff than you… To tell you the truth, Sora… I was jealous of you.” _

_ “What for?” _

_ “I wished I could live life the way you do. Just following my heart.” _

_ “Yeah, well, I've got my share of problems, too.” _

_ “Like what?” _

_ “Like… wanting to be like you.” _

_ “Well, there is one advantage to being me... Something you could never imitate.” _

_ “Really? What's that?” _

_ “Having you for a friend.” _

He had tried his hardest to hint at his feelings, but after he said ‘friend’ he couldn’t find the words to go further with it. Then as expected Sora have his usually happy and thankful response back. So if anything, that was the impact he left on Sora and what Sora probably thought of him. 

Just a friend.

That’s all he ever was going to be. 

And it was all his fault. 

All because he was too afraid to speak up. 

A sudden pain struck his chest suddenly and it tightened. A strong surge of hurt and sadness overridden everything else, only apimfiying what he had already been feeling the entire evening. He gripped his chest before he hunched over and let the tears fall from his eyes again. His shaky breath became weak and sorrow filled sobs, finally crawling out from inside and to the open air for it to hear. 

Breathing out slowly, the air around him felt heavy and confined. He was inside of a box and it was slowly getting smaller. He couldn’t do a thing about it though, after all he had placed himself in that box. He trapped himself fully knowing the dangers that were there. 

Before the boxed could shut completely he hear the sound of a door creaking open. “Riku?”

It was Sora’s voice. 

Riku wiped away his tears as quickly as he could. He couldn’t let Sora see him weak and emotionally distressed. “Yeah, Sora?” 

He tried his best to keep his voice strong, though he could hear the weakness. He could only plead that Sora wasn’t able to pick up on it. This was the last thing that he wanted to happen for today. Sure he had thought before that having Sora come to talk to him would be fine, but now… after what he witnessed before… he wasn’t sure if facing Sora was even manageable. 

“I was wondering why you came back here. Are you feeling okay?”

_ “No of course not…” _ Riku thought to himself, not even attempting to turn around to look at Sora. “I just needed some space to myself, that’s all.”

“I know… that’s what Kairi told me, but…” Sora trailed off for a moment. “You know you can talk to me if you need anything.”

Riku smiled slightly, happy to know that Sora still wanted to help out as much as possible, even though what Riku wished to talk about was something that could never be brought up. 

"It's nothing, there's just a lot on my mind with what we need to face," Riku replied. 

"Okay, if you say so though… there is something I wanted to talk about with you."

Finally Riku turned around and stood up, he tried to keep his eyes from looking at Sora. He felt afraid of what would happen if he did. But he was at least facing him now.

If Sora wanted to talk, Riku was going to make sure he could be there for him. Even if Riku felt conflicted, he would do whatever he could for Sora. That was the goal he wanted to have and keep.

"All right then, what's up?"

Sora surprisingly turned his head to the side and rubbed the back of his neck. "Well… its something I was thinking about before, but I just never got the chance to say it."

"Well, what is it?" Riku asked approaching Sora a little. He would have tried to go closer and place a hand on him, but Riku knew that being too close would cause too much pain. The urge to grab and hold onto Sora was strong now that he was only a little bit in front of him. Quickly Riku breathed in slowly and spoke again. "Just like you said I can talk to you, you can talk to him."

Sora nodded, a smile coming across his face. "So the thing is, I mean what I figured out. I wanted to tell you… you've always been a good friend to me. So… I…" Sora hesitated for a moment, spacing out for the moment. 

_ “You figured out your feelings for Kairi right?” _ Riku thought to himself.  _ “And you think that I had those same feelings for her and just want to let me know…” _

That was what Riku was expecting Sora to say. It was the only reasonable thing for him to say at this point. 

“I think figured out that I actually like you more.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So now you see why I listed it as SoRiku  
> but what will happen next? Heh.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again for all the kudos and stuff! I'm really glad this is doing well. Let's get right to the next chapter!

_“I think figured out that I actually like you more.”_

Riku nearly lost all strength in his legs. His heart was racing faster and faster and he was sure that it was going to burst any given moment. The world around him felt out of place and his head throbbed with questions he had never thought to think.

There was no way he heard Sora say that, right? It was impossible. There was no way that Soar said that. No way that he said that he-

“I know it might seem a bit weird… but after I saw you walk off here, I think I realized finally how I felt. I’ve always admired you Riku and looked up to you, so yeah…” Sora’s cheeks began to turn red. “I’m in love with you Riku.”

Riku opened his mouth, but all words or thoughts had failed him. _“This… it has to be a dream. This can’t be right. There’s no way-”_

 _'It's no dream. He really has come to talk to you to tell you his feelings. What you didn’t expect to happen turned out to be true,’_ the replica replied. 

Riku breathed deeply while continuing to stare at Sora. It was all too much for him to process, even if it was what he always secretly had wanted. Soon enough Sora started to pick up that Riku was only staring and nothing more. 

“Um, Riku? You okay? Like I said, I know this is probably weird for me coming out of the blue with this, but I can’t get it out of my head. You know what I mean? Like after all we have been through and I’ve worried about never seeing you again… I can’t imagine my life without you.”

“S-Sora…” 

Riku still found himself too frozen by shock over Soar’s confession. It all felt so surreal and his brain seemed to not want to function how he wanted it to. He wasn't even sure if he was blushing or not from the kind honest words Sora had to offer to him. 

Sora’s expression started to change. The blush on his cheeks faded and he started to look more pensive. “W-Well… I guess I get if you are shocked by it. It’s just some feeling after all that I thought I could tell you about. I guess… I mean what I thought… was wrong.”

 _‘Idiot!’_ the replica shouted. _‘Your lack of response is making him doubt you feel the same. Speak up already!’_

Riku breathed out quickly. “Ah Sora… I-I um.”

Sora shook his head. “No Riku, you don’t have to say anything. I get it. I shouldn’t have said anything…” Tears swelled up in his eyes, creating a sad expression that Riku hated to see on Sora. “It was foolish of me to try this.”

Briskly he turned around and pushed open the door, and just as he started to run away, Riku finally had his senses return to him. “Sora wait!” 

But it was already too late, Sora had already run off back presumably towards Kairi or the docks. Riku watched as Sora vanished from his vision and almost lost all his strength in his legs, but he managed to stay standing. The tears returned to his own eyes though and he couldn’t control them from flowing down his face. 

_‘Come on! Run after him. You are seriously going to sit here and cry right after Sora actually confessed to you?!’_

Riku nodded as he ran as fast as he could through the door and around the island, looking for Sora everywhere. It only took a few seconds to locate him at the docks… already in his boat and rowing away. 

“Sora!” Riku shouted, but Sora didn’t stop rowing, he wasn’t even facing the island. Instead his back was to Riku and he didn’t bother to stop once. 

Riku nearly stumbled onto the docks, watching Sora continue to row away. "Sora!" Riku shouted as loud as he could. "I…"

His voice feel far too quiet as he tried to say the next part. "I love you too…"

He knew his soft quiet voice would not carry for Sora to even hear, but he wasn't able to shout the last part. He wanted to, so badly he wanted shout it for Sora to hear. 

Maybe then Sora would stop and turn around and they would stare long and hard each other, feeling the strong pull of their connection. Then Sora would come back and they could embrace. The warmth from that embrace would be enough to finally wash away any doubt that either of them seemed to have. 

But Riku still could not find his voice. All he could do was continue to watch Sora get farther and farther. 

No longer could he handle himself and he dropped to the ground, letting out a pathetic sob. Tears fell from his face faster than ever before and they didn't care to stop.

“I screwed it up… I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I couldn’t even react properly… and I've screwed it up now…"

 _'You can still go after him!'_ the replica shouted. _'Get back to the mainland and run after him!'_

"N-No… I can't…" Riku whispered in a sore voice. "I won't be able to take back what I did."

The replica scoffed. _'All you did was stand there and gawk like a big idiot! You just need to tell Sora you were too caught up in shock to think.'_

"But that's just it… I stood and gawked… and made Sora think I was disgusted by his confession."

 _'Riku,'_ the replica said sternly. _'I am positive that he wouldn't think you were disgusted by him saying he loves you.'_

Riku choked on another sob, he tired to look up to see if he could still see Sora, but he could no longer see any figure on the water. Sora already had docked and no doubt ran home. 

"If he doesn't think I was disgusted, then what did he think?! You say how he… the way he looked at me. He was hurt… and I failed to do anything to help him. I'm such an idiot…"

_'I wouldn't want to put you down more than you already more, but I am going to say this because you need to hear this. Yes, you are being quiet the idiot, and staying here sobbing your heart out isn't going to make it any better.'_

Riku tried to hold back the remaining sobs he had, but he had no more strength in him. He let another sob out before wrapping his arms around himself. 

Never before had he hated himself so much. Sure he hated himself pretty badly after betraying Sora before. That was a long journey to recover, thinking he couldn't be forgiven, only to find that Sora forgave him no matter what. Now… this was something he felt could not be taken back. How could he even do that? He truly had hurt Sora's feelings more so than ever, and there was no taking that back.

 _'Hey…'_ the replica said, this time in a much softer voice. _'Take some deep breaths already. The battle is still tomorrow and you still need sleep.'_

Riku slowly stood up while wiping away the tears that stained his cheeks. "Y-Yeah… gotta focus on tomorrow. Though… facing Sora tomorrow… I don't know if I-"

_'I'll be right here for you. You're going to make it through this."_

Riku closed his eyes, pushing out the last of the tears he had. "I hope so…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)  
> This story isn't done yet. I got more to cover for reasons lol  
> Hope you enjoyed though.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally got out a new chapter for this, the power of the Re Mind trailer got me pumped.  
> Speaking of that, no I will not be including any of that stuff in this story cause 1. it's complicated and 2. the DLC isn't out yet of course. 
> 
> I will just be staying the course as originally it happened in KH3, I mean I may take parts down the road once we learn more, but for now enjoy!

The following morning was rough for Riku. When he woke up, his heart felt heavy and still stung from the events that had transpired yesterday. As he got dressed, he did his best to try and put all of these feelings aside. They were not what he needed to have when going into a dangerous battle, but when he looked at himself in the mirror he could see a tear had escaped. It started to run down his cheek, but Riku was quick to wipe it away before it could get any further. 

“Come on Riku… pull yourself together,” he muttered to himself. 

_ ‘Are you sure you going to be okay? There is still time to talk to Sora before hand,’ _ the replica offered.

Riku thought about it for a moment, seeing as there would be time as everyone traveled to the graveyard where Xehanort was. Everyone was going to be traveling on the gummi ship, which meant all of them would be there in the same area for the entire journey. Confined to one space for an entire journey. Right near Sora… who Riku was sure was still just as heartbroken as he was. 

“It’s going to be fine. I’ll get through this, but now is not the time to be talking about that stuff. After the battle… that’s when I will talk to him about it. Though… it probably is already too late. He probably went back to Kairi and-”

_ ‘And that is where you are going to stop talking,’ _ the replica interrupted.  _ ‘I am not letting you get yourself and more down than you already are.’ _

Riku sighed, finding himself thankful that he had the replica by his side to keep his head straight. “Thanks… Facing Sora today is something only I can do, but just… thank you for being here.”

_ ‘You’re welcome,’ _ the replica replied softly. 

After that Riku was finally ready to head out. He went out of the house and headed down to the docks to take his boat to the island. That was were Kairi and Sora were going to be, and were they would all be waiting for the others to come with the come with the gummi ship. 

While rowing, Riku could feel his palm growing sweaty. The closer the island got, the better he could see the figures already standing there. Kairi and Sora had already arrived before him and now he was the last to come and meet up with them. 

Once he docked his boat and tied it up, he pushed himself as best as he could to keep walking. When he was close enough Kairi waved to him and smiled, and much to his surprise he saw Sora smiling too. 

_ “Did Sora already get over last night? Or did I really just dream that he said those things..” _ Riku thought to himself as he got closer. 

As soon as he was standing right next to Sora and Kairi, he found his answer. Sora was smiling his usually happy smile, but Riku could see that it was easily being force. Sora was odd sometimes about his emotions. Sometimes he would wear them on his sleeve and show everyone what he is feeling. Other times… he would hide away what he didn’t want others to know, and he would do whatever he could to keep it secret. 

This was one of those times. Sora was smiling, but it was only to hide what he didn’t want to talk about, and Riku knew exactly what that was. Riku seemed to be the only one who ever could pick up on when Sora was like this, no one else ever caught on when Sora truly felt sad cause he held that usual happy face. 

Though Riku couldn’t complain, he was far worse than Sora. He had suppressed and hidden away so many of his emotions over the years. Thinking that his love he felt for Sora could never be returned was one of those he kept to himself. Now that felt like it could be more the case than ever since his own fears got in the way of accepting what he wanted most. 

“You ready to go?” Sora asked in a seemingly normal chipper voice. 

Riku blinked for a moment, trying not to lose himself in Sora’s gaze. He knew he was going to have to lie too, but there wasn’t anyone that would be able to pick that up and see past his mask. Quickly he averted his eyes before he could let his feelings get the best of him. “Yeah, ready if you guys are.”

“Of course,” Kairi chimed in.

“That’s good! Donald and Goofy should be here with the gummi ship any minute,” Sora said before checking on his gummi phone. “Everyone else is already on board, so it will be straight to the keyblade graveyard from here.”

Riku nodded. “Right.”

With that Riku could only hope that the battle ahead wasn’t going to be as hard as the battle that was in his heart. He started right at Sora, seeing him smile as if nothing had happened last night. Seemingly happy and perfect as always. 

If it weren’t for the fact that they were heading into a dire battle, Riku would have confronted Sora on the matter. Or at least he would have tried, whether or not he would get the guts to actually speak up was another story. Besides Kairi was there, and Riku had no idea if she even knew about last night. She had already left the island before Sora had come to see him, so Riku didn’t know if she had any knowledge at all on it, and he was not about to ask. 

Riku waited to see if Sora would say anything, but now he seemed to be focusing on playing around with his gummi phone. Riku breathed out a slow breath, trying to figure out what to say next, or more really what he could even say. There was a uncomfortable turning in his stomach, one that made him worry that he would be sick if he didn’t think of something so say. 

Thankfully the gummi ship got there before Riku could feel anymore awkward or ill. All three of them were then brought up into the ship were the rest of the group was waiting. Though the cockpit had only 3 seats, there was an area in the back of the ship for extra sitting. 

Riku sighed with relief knowing he would at least not have to be sitting right next to Sora, it would only make him feel more awkward than he already was. He took his seat and felt the ship blast through space moments later. He didn’t even bother to look out the port window. The vastness of space with all its stars and worlds could not fastnate any more at this point. 

There was only one thing that truly still fascinated him… or really one person, but now he was more afraid than ever that he was going to lose that. He wanted to act, but at the same time felt wrong for doing so. He had made his choice to stand there dumbstruck and couldn’t get himself moving fast enough, and now this was the price. 

It was exactly as he feared. Exactly as he thought would end up happening. He had made things awkward between him and Sora, and he wasn’t sure if he would be able to fix it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to all who have checked out my little idea here so far. I am glad you guys are enjoying it, keep on cheering for Riku guys! :D


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay here we go again with another chapter! Thank you all again for your support on this, it makes me really happy to see so many of you liking this!

“Riku?” a voice asked, pulling him out of his deep thoughts. 

Riku looked up to see Aqua standing in front of him, giving a worried face. He straightened up and spoke up. “Yeah Aqua?”

“You seemed to be spacing out a bit, I didn’t mean to look, but…” Aqua trailed off for a moment. “You looked a little lonely.”

Riku sighed as he leaned back against his chair. They were still on the path to the graveyard and Sora was still up front at the cockpit, steering them to it. It wouldn’t be much longer before they were there, but they still had a bit of time before hand. Ventus, Kairi, and Lea were caught up in a conversation since the start of the trip, so Riku had thought that he would take some time to himself and try to calm himself. He wasn’t too sure honestly what good it would do him without actually talking to Sora, but he knew he couldn’t go and do it now. It was still going to have to wait. 

“Ah sorry,” Riku said, running a hand through his hair. “Guess I zoned out too much, you know with everything that is ahead of us.”

Aqua nodded before taking a seat next to Riku. “I understand, there’s so much at stake, but we have to try and pull through. Though, are you sure you are all right, I would have thought you would be up at the cockpit with Sora.”

Riku shook his head quick. This was not the subject he wanted to talk about, not at all. Though he knew trying to avoid it would only bring up more concern from Aqua who seemed to have a keen eye for this stuff. “Nah… he needs to concentrate on flying the ship, no reason for me to be up there.” 

“Ah I see, I suppose that could be the case,” Aqua replied before she paused. She pursed her lips slightly while looking deep in her own thoughts. “Does that mean you are only worried about the battle head?”

“Yeah… just worried about the battle. I know it’s going to be tough, but…” Riku sighed deeply as he let his thoughts float around in his head. 

He almost had the thought to say what was on his mind, but he still could not find himself admitting it. He always had wanted to express his feelings for Sora for others to know, to let them know that he loved Sora and he wanted him to be his. Though now was far from that time and besides, knowing what happened yesterday there was no way he could do that, especially with Kairi in the room. He had no idea if she knew what Sora did or not and he was not about to upset her if she didn’t.

“But…” Riku finally continued. He wasn’t ready to tell the truth yet, but he could do at least something close enough. “I can’t give up. There’s still so much more I have to do after all of this is over.” 

Aqua smiled. “That’s good to hear. Just remember Riku, if you need to talk to us about anything, we are all here for you.”

Riku smiled back. “Thanks Aqua.”

The speakers then turned on in the room and Donald spoke up, saying that they were approaching the keyblade graveyard. After that everyone prepared to disembark from the ship to head down to the world. 

Donald, Goofy and Sora made their way to join the others to all go together, bringing Sora and Riku much closer to one another before going down to the world. Riku slowly glanced at Sora, who was still hiding behind his smile. He was still so hurt and it was making Riku feel sick inside. 

He had caused Sora to be like this. His dumb actions caused him to make Sora afraid to express himself. If they weren’t heading to the battle, Riku would have ran over to Sora and embraced him, telling him it was okay to cry. It was something he had done with Sora when they were little. Whenever Sora was picked on or bullied he would hide how hurt he was, not wanting everyone else to worry. Riku still knew, he always figured it out even though Sora never said it, and he would be right there for Sora to comfort him.

Sora never looked back his way though, leaving an empty and broken void between the two of them. He didn’t even once glance in Riku’s direction, but he figured it was for the best.  _ “He’d rather not look at me right now… makes sense…” _

_ ‘And what did I say about putting yourself down? You have to stop!’  _ the replica scolded. 

_ “Yeah, but what else am I supposed to think? That I’m just invisible right now? Sora clearly doesn’t want to even see if I am okay…” _

_ ‘That is not the case at all! You know that for a fact. You both are being stubborn idiots who are hiding their feelings from each other,’ _ the replica replied in an annoyed tone. 

Before Riku could reply everyone were all teleported down into the graveyard. It was a barren and dry land with rocky pillars and mountains in all directions. It seemed everything was starting up right away as Xehanort soon appeared in front of the group, still not giving Riku any time to reply back to the replica. 

Once Xehanort and half of his vessels showed up for a brief talking, they caused the sky to grow dark and Heartless to rain down. Not only that but Nobodies as well as Unversed started to fill up the area surrounding them. 

Right away everyone lunged into battle, fighting as many creatures as possible. In the heat of the fray Riku ended up getting farther away from Sora. Not that he was worried, he knew that Sora could hold his own and he had Donald and Goofy to back him up, but there was still that wanting to be near him. 

He wished that he could be near Sora and actually get to fight alongside him. Only one time in all of the adventures they had so far did that happen, and that was one of Riku’s most treasured moments in recent times. Even recently when Riku was fighting Aqua when she was corrupted by darkness, Sora came in to save him and then he took on Aqua by himself. 

Riku gripped his keyblade tighter as he destroyed more Heartless. Each strike became harder than the last as more and more Heartless, Nobodies, and Unversed were cleared out. It also seemed to help clear his head, his thoughts became more calm and more thoughtful the more he worked at it.

_ “I will be by your side again Sora. I’m going to try at least. I want to be able to try. I gotta find a way… no matter what. I’ll prove to you my feelings, somehow.” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Usually I don't write short chapters like what I have been doing, but I feel like it works? Let me know guys, should I keep the short ranged chapters or go for a bit longer in the next coming chapters? Anyways thanks for reading!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay on this, had things going on but also had a hard time writing this scene, but I got it at least!

Once all of the enemies were cleared out, the group met back up in the center of where they had just fought. Riku side glanced like he had before, and Sora finally picked up that he was staring. He offered a kind and warm smile, one thing that Riku didn’t expect. 

It was the smile that could melt any wall he tried to put up, and it made him actually smile back at Sora. Though before long Mickey spoke up and the focus went back to what was happening in the moment. 

“Is everyone okay?” Mickey asked. 

Everyone nodded and then Sora looked around to everyone. His cheerful smile become something much more serious, a rare look for Sora. “C’mon, let’s go.”

It seemed like everyone was ready to go on ahead, but then something… or someone appeared in the distance. A man was there, one who was vaguely familiar to Riku, he knew for a fact he had seen this man before, but the memory felt a bit old and fuzzy. 

What happened next though was a surprise to him and he was sure also to the rest. Everything happened so quick from the movements of the man, who’s hair had now turned a pure silver-white color, that there was barely any time to just think. Ventus was already struck and knocked out, and Sora took the chance to charge. 

Riku watched Sora get close onto to have his attack stopped by a force of darkness. Sora tried to pull his keyblade free but he was blasted back a second later. Riku tensed up when he saw Sora crash back to the ground. 

He was about to run to him, but once again everything was happening far too quickly. It almost looked like Kairi would be hit, but Lea took the hit instead and was launched forcefully back into the bottom section of one of the mountains. 

Then came a second attack on Kairi. Riku was about to move, ready to save his friend, when Sora ran first. 

Once again Riku froze up against what he wished he could have done. 

As soon as he saw Sora hugging Kairi tightly, ready to take the hit for her, Riku never felt so distant. Sora was willing to block and willing to protect Kairi at the cost of himself.

Sora was going to protect her as he stood there and watched. If only Riku could have moved faster, he could protect the both of them, but his legs felt like ice as the world seemed to move slowly around him.

With the blink of an eye, Goofy came in to block the attack, knocking the man into the air. Even he seemed surprised by the action m, and what happened next was yet another thing that happened all too quickly. 

Donald cast a large and powerful spell, which only added to propelling the man further back. Then after he had collapsed, Mickey and Goofy went to check on him. 

Riku was going to approach Sora to check if he was okay, now that he had stopped hugging Kairi. Much to his surprise though, Kairi pulled on his wrist and motioned over towards the far rocks. 

Lea was slumped there, not moving an inch. Giving one more glance to Sora, who now was the one standing still, he moved to go with Kairi towards Lea. 

While Riku was checking on Lea, who was thankfully still breathing, he heard a noise. He turned to look and saw Sora still standing there. He was looking at the Heartless that were beginning to form a large conglomeration. 

_'You better get over there and say something to him otherwise he'll end up being the frozen idiot,'_ the replica interjected. 

_"Don't need to be reminded,"_ Riku said as he moved from his spot to get over to Sora.

He ran up to Sora and stood next to him. Without even thinking he grabbed Sora's shoulder and shook it. 

"Sora! Snap out of it!"

Sora gasped slightly before turning to look at Riku. He could see the worry and fear that was beginning to form. This was not how any of them expected it and Sora was always the first to worry. 

"You gotta breathe Sora. Everyone is okay, they haven't lost their hearts. But we can't just stand here, we have to protect them."

Sora continued to stare at Riku, with a wavering expression. He still was clearly worried, but Riku kept on looking seriously. As much as he wanted to pull Sora into a hug and comfort him about his fears, this was not the time at all. Though that didn't mean he would leave Sora feeling all alone. He would still so whatever he could do for Sora. 

Sora finally nodded. "Yeah, you’re right!"

The two of them then looked back at the Heartless. They were rapidly growing in numbers, getting into a bigger mass than before. 

Aqua then walked up beside them and gave them a serious look. "We stand together."

Riku and Sora nodded before the three of them ran forward towards the ever growing Heartless mass. He summoned his keyblade and prepared for what was to come. He could feel something stirring inside of him as he watched the Heartless. If there was a chance to fight along Sora again, Riku was finally getting his chance. 

It was probably a very dangerous out of every battle Riku had fought, he had fought plenty large Heartless before, but this was the largest swarm of Heartless he had ever seen. Though that did not deter him from his thoughts. He was still determined to do whatever he could to stay strong. 

He would protect and fight alongside Sora this time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this chapter was good, I just had a bit of a hard time as I said writing this. But next chapter :) that's the fun one.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally wrote out this chapter! Thank you all SO much though! I am really happy to see so many of you liking this story so far!

The large swarm of Heartless continued to materialize before them. The size of it was growing taller and taller and it showed no sign of stopping. As far as Riku could tell, this mass of Heartless, that were now rotating around like a tornado, was already way past the height of a Darkside Heartless. 

Riku breathed in as he prepared for the fight that would most likely commence any moment, but then everything felt like it was falling apart. 

More Heartless flew in, joining the still ever growing mass. It was now to a monstrous proportion now, but still none of the Heartless came out to attack.

Then Aqua dropped her keyblade and that was when the Heartless burst forth directly at her. 

In the blink of an eye she was gone.

The sheer sight of that happening all too quickly was enough to completely through Riku off guard. He managed to call out to her, but she was already gone from the moment the Heartless engulfed her.

Then seconds later the Heartless swooped up all the rest… all except Riku and Sora. Somehow for some reason the Heartless didn't go for them yet.

It did go after Kairi though. 

Riku watched as Sora tried to reach for Kairi. He watched as Sora cried out in desperation for her. For the second time that day he froze again while watching Sora express his feelings for Kairi.

Though frozen in place, he could hear the anguish from Sora's screaming. Sora was hurt, practically crying in pain. Sora needed someone… but Riku only stared. 

_"How did this happen? How… why did… everyone… and now Sora…"_ Riku's thoughts were fragmented, unable to process the event that had happened. 

_'Idiot! Snap out of it, already!'_ The replica screamed in Riku's head. _'Standing here isn't going to help anything!'_

Riku breathed out slowly, trying to process what he was hearing. How long had the replica been yelling at him? How much time had passed since this started? Everything felt blurred and out of place now, but Sora was still there. Still crying his eyes out on the ground. 

Riku urged himself to move as fast as he could. He ran up to Sora's side, seeing that he was still sobbing out his heart. "Sora!" Riku shouted, trying to think what he would say next to his friend. 

"Th-They're gone. Kairi, Donald… Goofy, the King… gone forever," Sora said, his voice breaking the more he spoke. He had kept his face to the ground at first, but then he slowly raised it. 

There Riku could see the tears staining Sora's face and the true hurt and sadness that Sora had been hiding. He had seen Sora hurt and sas before, but this was truly much deeper than any of that. "What do we do? Without them… I…"

Sora choked back on another sob before he continued. He started to lower his head again while more tears poured out of him. "All my strength comes from them. They gave me all of it. Alone, I'm worthless. We've lost… It's over."

Riku felt his gut tighten once Sora spoke his words. He spoke as if he were giving up. He wanted to give up because everyone else was lost, but… 

_"I'm right here Sora,"_ Riku whispered, or really he wished he could. The words only stayed locked away in his mind, too afraid to escape. His fears started to climb and weed their way into his mind, and he did nothing to stop them. 

_"Do… do I not give you strength? Am… I… no longer someone you care about?"_

The sound of a scoff echoing in his mind rang clear and loud, interrupting his thoughts. _'I'm getting really tired of you acting all pessimistic. I thought you were supposed to have grown since we last met. Yet you are acting like a complete baby. If Sora didn't care about you, he wouldn't be looking for your advice on what to do!'_

 _"But… he…"_ Riku watched Sora crying. He even felt his own tears stream down his face now that enough time had passed.

He hated himself for not being able to speak aloud, but he still felt haunted by Sora's words. The words of giving up because everyone but him were gone, and it seemed that him still being there meant nothing. 

The two of them had been through so much together and survived. They had battled tough odds before with Xemnas and then everything during the mark of mastery exam. They still made it through no matter what because they had each other. 

Was all of that gone now? Was it because he screwed up with Sora? Was their connection… 

_'No! Stop! Use your brain for a moment and think! Sora needs you more than ever now, he may not have said it, but you are all he has right now. If you were also gone I'm sure he would not even be able to function. Now stop wasting time and actually do something useful!'_

Riku nodded. He knew that the replica was right. The replica's point was fair and much better than what he was thinking. Riku wanted to reach out to Sora, he did want to help. 

Slowly he reached his hand out, wanting to give that comfort that Sora needed. "Sora… I…" 

Sora didn't even look up at Riku's voice, he kept his head down and continued to let the tears stream. 

Riku hesitated before his hand reached Sora's shoulder. Doubt entered his mind, tormenting him once more, but this time he pushed those thoughts away as fast as he could. _“I won’t let fear stop me this time, I… I will do this.”_

He grabbed Sora’s shoulder, warranting his attention. His eyes were already red from so much crying, and yet there were still tears coming down. “Sora,” Riku said, speaking as calmly as he could muster. “You really think that? I mean, honestly the Sora I know wouldn’t say or think that. Cause you know what? I don’t believe that, and I’m going to keep fighting. I’m… I’m going to keep on protecting you Sora, because I…” 

Riku’s words almost got stuck in his throat. They were trying to swell up, making it impossible to finish, but Riku still refused to give in. He could already feel his cheeks burning, but he didn’t care at this point. He wanted Sora to see this. He wanted to have Sora hear what he wanted to say next. 

“I love you Sora. I always have.”

Without another word, fearful that his emotions would spill out too much, Riku stood up and turned to face the Heartless. Though now that he faced away from Sora, some emotions did break free and trickle down his cheeks. He was thankful that he had finally said it, though whatever Sora’s reaction was stayed behind him. As much as he wanted to see how Sora reacted, what mattered more was protecting him. 

He keep on moving though. If it was one thing he knew how to do well, it was how to protect Sora at all costs. Riku would do whatever he could to save Sora, even if it cost himself in the end. His love for Sora was stronger than anything else, and he would use that as his strength to carry himself through all the way to the end. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heh, I felt like that was a good spot to end it on. We all know what is coming next at least. But what about Sora? What is his reaction? :) Find out next time!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay finally figured out where I wanted to go with this chapter, I hope it is good enough!   
> Thank you all so much for all the kudos and comments and everything so far!

“I love you Sora. I always have.”

Sora heard these words crystal clear, but he still was doubting what he had heard. Or at least part of him was doubting, the other half had his heart racing with feelings he thought were never worthy of being felt again. 

“Riku? Y-You love me?” Sora whispered in a voice that was far too quiet to be heard. "Like actually..." 

His heart was pounding vigorously at this point. The sheer simplicity of Riku’s words had set it off beating and had no plans on stopping or slowing. It raced for the words, but also for what he was seeing before him. Riku kept walking away, farther ahead of him. He was walking right into the Heartless mass that was forming a spiral of Heartless in his direction. 

“What is he… why…” Sora muttered as he tried to figure out what Riku was doing. 

Then a second later he knew why. Riku stepped into a stance and pushed his keyblade forward right as the Heartless went to strike at him. 

An explosion of Heartless and darkness spiraled out from the hit, spilling every way except right behind him. Sora watched carefully as his eyes continued to widen. He could hear Riku yelling, using as much of his strength as he could to keep the Heartless from coming. 

“R-Riku…” Sora choked out softly, still not loud enough to be heard. “Don’t do this. You don’t need to protect me like this…”

His words still too quiet to be heard fell to deaf ears. He thought this, yet he couldn’t get himself to do anything. He could only watch in shock and awe and Riku continued to rip through the Heartless that were pouring at him. 

Until Sora noticed him slip slightly and the darkness start to wrap around his ankles. “Ah!” Sora gasped as he fumbled to his feet. He needed to get to Riku. He couldn’t just sit there and watch anymore! He had to try and do something.

“Riku!” Finally his voice was working and he could shout. 

As the darkness continued to latch onto Riku, Sora swore he could see him turn his head back slightly.

But then the Heartless exploded around him and that was all that was left. 

Sora braced himself as the darkness filled with Heartless flew at him. He felt it hit his body and wrapped around him, the darkness burning against his skin.  _ “Riku, I’m sorry…I wish I could have told you… that…” _ Sora thought to himself, hoping that his thoughts could be carried to wherever Riku had gone. Though he was never able to finish them for it wasn’t long before his mind faded into nothingness. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this is the shortest chapter yet, but I just wanted to do a view from Sora's view, but it was a bit hard for me to figure out how to go about this. Let me know your thoughts though!


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Merry Christmas! I got a new chapter for all of you today! Thank you all so much for checking this out again, it makes me very happy to see the love for this little idea I had :)

The last thing Sora had expected was to literally piece himself back together again. Or how ever it was, it was still rather confusing to think about. Either way it was just one of the strangest things he had done, but he had done it and it was over it. Now it was on to more important things.

He had to find and restore everyone’s heart. 

He had set off to find the others, leaving the Final World behind. Once he did that everything blurred around him and he nearly fell unconscious, but he could tell he was getting somewhere. But his mind still briefly faded into sleep. 

_ “I love you Sora. I always have.” _

The event replied through Sora’s mind vivild. Riku’s words so strong and truthful… so meaningful and simple. 

Watching him walk away… to step ahead to protect him… it was still painful to see. But it was still there, still happening in front of his eyes. 

Riku… 

Sora’s eyes shot open and he saw that he was flying through someplace dark, but there was a light up ahead of him. He turned himself around to be facing up right as he continued forward towards the bright source of light. 

Though as he did, his thoughts began to wake up and start poking around. 

Did he really mean what he said? 

Did he really mean ‘love’ in the manner that Sora was hoping for?

It had to be that… Sora couldn’t think of it any other way. 

_ “He told me directly that he loved me… that he always did. He’s… why didn’t he just tell me before…”  _

Sora sighed before he looked to the light again. It was still far away, but he could feel a warmth coming from it. It was a nice and familiar warmth, and he wanted to get to it quicker. 

“Riku!” Sora called out, reaching a hand forward. “Riku! Answer me please!”

There was no answer, but he continued flying towards the light. Even without an answer, he knew that light had to lead him to Riku. There was no other option. It was just something he knew. Something that his heart knew. He could feel it pound against his chest the closer he got to the light. 

_ “Riku, don’t worry. I am going to find you. Just hold on!” _

He finally made it to the light and he closed it eyes as it surrounded him. When the light vanished he found himself to be in a world that was very familiar. “This is Herc’s world.” He didn’t understand why the light had brought him here, but it had to mean something at least. “Does that mean… Riku is here?” 

He was just outside the gates to Olympus itself, and with no real direction he started to head up the stairs. Just following his gut on this one he could only hope that it was leading him the right way.

Halfway up the stairs he stopped and turned around. He only now saw how quiet it was and the lack of… well anyone was a bit odd. Though after making a comment aloud, he found out that Jiminy was still there, hiding in his hood. He jumped out onto Sora;s shoulder to talk with him in an easier way, though it was still surprising. How long he had been there Sora couldn’t tell. Had he just been there the entire time? Even at the final world? How much had he heard? He wanted to ask Jiminy about it, but he wasn’t going to question it. 

After a bit of encouragement from the cricket, Sora ran ahead all the way up to the top of the stairs. At first he wasn’t sure where he would go from here, but something caught his eye the further he ran into the area. 

He saw something that made his heart race, though he had to get closer to be sure. 

Up above one of the structures he saw a light blue, transparent figure. The figure looked just like he did when he was in the Final World… and upon looking closer, he saw exactly who it was. 

His heart ache at the same time, creating a painful feeling in his chest. 

“Riku!” 

His transparent body just floating there in the sky, unmoving and not reacting. 

“Riku! I’m right here!” Sora shouted as he ran closer. 

But before he could get close enough, a Heartless with a strange staff appeared next to Riku. It held out its hand and a second later Riku’s heart floated out from his body and up to the Heartless. Chains formed around it and the Heartless raised its hand and made the heart vanished, and then the Heartless flew away out into another area of Olympus. 

“No… No… I am not going to let you take away Riku!” Sora grumbled aloud. 

He wasn’t going to let any Heartless take away Riku’s heart. 

He  _ had _ to get Riku’s heart back. He just had to. 

_ “I love you Sora. I always have.” _

The words echoed in his mind once he began running. It started just once, but slowly fell into repeating itself again and again. 

_ “I love you Sora. I always have.” _

_ “I love you Sora.” _

_ “I love you.” _

The words swirled vigorously in his mind. He knew what Riku meant, and now he couldn’t stop thinking about it. He didn’t want to forget the words or the way it was said. He wanted to keep on hearing it. He wanted to hear it from the memory yes, but he also wanted to hear it again in person. 

_ “When I find you Riku, I want you to tell me again… I want to hear you say it face to face. Then I am going to tell you it as well. We will both tell each other, this time with no fear to stop us. I love you Riku, and I am going to save you.”  _


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Thank you all for the kudos and more! It really does make me happy to see love for this little story of mine. 
> 
> Now we get back to it and see what happens next!

It had been a bit harder than what Sora expected, but he had done it and stopped the Heartless from taking Riku’s heart. The Heartless may have gotten away, but the heart was at least free. Though it did float off away, presumably to wherever Riku was. 

But now he had to finish the rest of his mission, which was to go and save the rest. Sora ran off, jumping right into it, though he still thought about watching Riku’s heart float off to somewhere. He could only keep on hoping that Riku’s heart was returning to its proper place after all of this. 

He had saved everyone’s heart… everyone’s but Kairi’s. Though he now had a path to take back to the graveyard, and it was his last chance to look for her. Thankfully while flying through the path he did see her farther up again. 

Though upon seeing her smile happily at him, something twitched in his heart. He tried his best to smile back at her while they joined hands. “Kairi.”

He knew he had to say more than just that though. It was going to feel too uncomfortable otherwise. “I found you again.”

Kairi hummed happily as she nodded before they started to fly further through the path. Eventually she looked at him, still smiling. “You see? I had no doubt that you’d pull through.”

“Yeah… thanks…” Sora said. He didn’t know what else to say anymore as they flew towards the light. 

“Sora? Are you okay?” Kairi asked softly as she floated closer to him.

He wasn’t sure how to answer it. He wanted to be honest and straightforward with her, but his mind was wandering too far. He felt afraid now to tell her the truth. He knew it was foolish though. He knew that she would understand. 

“I… Kairi…” Sora sighed, turning his head away from her. 

“Something wrong?”

“No… I mean kind of… but not really,” Sora muttered. 

“You know you can tell me what’s on your mind.”

Sora nodded as he closed his eyes. He knew that was true and he knew she would listen. He tried to speak what he wanted to say, but his words still ended up failing him. He sighed again upset that he wasn’t able to just speak calmly and aloud about all of this. 

“Is it something to do with Riku?” 

Sora looked at Kairi with wide eyes. “What? How did you… I mean it is, but I didn’t say anything that it was about him.”

Kairi laughed. “Remember what you told me when we were at the paopu tree? I don’t know exactly what happened with you two afterwards, but I haven’t forgotten what you told me.”

“You mean… you would be okay if… if I…” Sora hesitated, the words tying up in his throat. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt Kairi’s feelings. He never wanted to hurt anyone's feelings at all, especially his best friends. 

“As long as we can stick together and still be good friends, that’s all that matters to me. We can still look out for each other and be there for one another. But Sora, like I told you back there, I understand if you find your feelings are different.”

“Kairi… thank you,” Sora replied in a whisper. 

Kairi gently took hold of Sora’s hand. “So everything worked out then between the two of you? If I can ask that is.”

“Ah… yeah I think so… maybe. Still need to work out things I think,” Sora said. “But I think I am getting there.”

“That’s good to hear, I’m happy to hear that,” Kairi said before smiling once more. 

It was a truthful and honest smile. Sora could feel the warmth and kindness that flowed from it. He knew that she meant what she said and he felt happy that she was. She actually understood his choice in the matter and only wanted his happiness and his friendship if nothing more. If she hadn’t… he didn’t want to think about those possibilities. 

Sora finally found the strength to smile back. “Thank you Kairi…” 

“Of course. You’re welcome.” 

Kairi gave his hand a gentle squeeze. It was rather reassuring for him and he kept on smiling. “Now let’s keep on going, the others are already ahead.”

“The others… yeah, that’s right,” Sora reminded himself as they got closer to the light. _“That means Riku should be back there. Riku… I’m almost back.”_

The light around them became blinding. Sora closed his eyes as he felt the ground beneath his feet. He touched down gently and the light started to fade away. When he opened his eyes he saw that he was standing before all of his friends again, all of them looking to him and looking perfectly fine. 

Before anything could be said or done, his eyes locked onto Riku. The boy was looking at Sora, but something seemed odd about his expression. It almost looked… awkward and perhaps a bit sad. Sora was starting to wonder why Riku was looking like that when he noticed what probably caused it. 

He was still holding onto Kairi’s hand. 

Quickly he let go but kept on staring at Riku. He breathed in slowly, trying to figure out what he wanted to get himself to do. He knew he couldn’t stand there forever, they didn’t have the time for that, but he wasn’t sure what he was trying to do. 

“Go on,” Kairi whispered into his ear. 

Without a word Sora ran forward straight to Riku. He colliding into his chest and he could feel Riku staggered back, not exactly him to hug so suddenly. Now that he had his hold on Riku, there was a warmth in his chest that swelled. 

Finally he was back with Riku. 

Riku was safe and alive. 

Everything was okay. 

“Riku…” Sora choked out. 

His emotions were spilling from him now, right in front of everyone. He didn’t care though. None of that bothered him in the slightest. All he cared about was making sure Riku was okay and hadn’t forgotten what had happened before. And if he did… Sora at least knew Riku’s feelings and would get him to admit it either way. 

“Sora?” Riku responded. “Are you… I mean why are you…” 

Sora lifted his head. He had to blink several times to clear out the tears that were blurring his vision. He wanted to see Riku up close. Seeing his deep blue-green eyes looking at him with such a gentleness made his heart swell up even more. 

He laughed weakly. “I’m happy. Happy you are okay. And… And…”

He pulled on Riku’s jacket, pulling his face close to his own. “And thank you for finally telling me.”

Riku gasped slightly, though it faltered slightly. Now with Riku so close he could hear his breath become unsteady. “Sora… I’m… sorry I didn’t tell you before. I know I should have but-”

“It’s okay. I know now. That’s what matters most.”

Sora continued to hold onto Riku and no more than a few seconds later did Riku finally return with a hold of his own. It was so warm between the two of them. Sora wanted to stay there, comforted and embraced by that warmth, but again he sadly had to remind himself that now was not the time for it. But he still wanted to stay in this warmth… Riku’s warmth… Riku’s light. The very light that guided him to safety. 

Someone cleared their throat and Sora finally had to pull himself away from Riku. Sora looked to see that it was Axel who had done it. “Hey, I get this is a nice reunion and all, but we do have to get back to what we were doing.”

Sora nodded. As much as he wanted to talk things out with Riku, he knew what had to be done first. He gave a quick glance over to him though, and saw him giving a small smile. It was a small, but it filled Sora with that warm feeling again. 

He smiled back. “Right let’s go.” 

The group started running off to where they had to head next, with Sora and Riku running side by side. Sora smiled softly to himself as he kept pace with Riku, the warmth still staying in his chest. This had been the feeling he had been looking for, for so long. He finally found his light and now this time around he was intended to keep him safe. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this will be the last chapter from Sora's PoV. Next I will go back to Riku again. Either way, hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	12. Chapter 12

Once the group moved along things ended up going differently than before. The giant Heartless tornado still happened, but Sora was able to defeat unlike before. Riku watched in awe as Sora rode towards the monstrouousty riding on hundreds of keyblades all glowing a beautiful light.

Riku found a deep sense of relief when he saw the Heartless defeated and Sora still safe and sound. But it wasn't a lot of time before someone was walking toward them. The dust of the land covered them up until they were in close enough range.

Once they were able to see who it was, Riku gasped. He stared down at what was his younger self, though this younger self donned the dark suit and had the golden eyes that all the other Organization members sported.

' _Are you going to be okay?'_

" _Yeah… Just a bit uneasy seeing him… me… like that."_

It only got worse one the dark him began talking. Such arrogance and cockiness, it was borderline crigny for Riku at this point. But he wasn't going to let his younger self mock him that way. During the talk, Riku caught Sora in the corner of his eye. Slowly Sora stepped over to him and stood right by his side all while Riku talked back to his former self.

When the conversations were over and the younger Riku brought in Heartless from all directions, Riku felt Sora's hand slip into his. "You all right?" Sora asked before summoning his keyblade to the other hand.

"I'm fine," Riku responded before he summoned his own keyblade. "Just… a little upset that I had to witness that. I can't believe I was ever like that."

"You're better than that now," Sora replied. "It's all in the past."

"Yeah, but it seems Xehanort thought it would be funny to bring the past back," Riku grumbled.

Sora gave Riku's hand a squeeze. "We'll make it through this together, okay?"

"Right."

The two of them finally let go and sprung into attacking Heartless. It wasn't long before everyone realized that the Heartless were just too much this time. They seemed to just be never ending at this point. But that was when Yen Sid showed up and created a safe pathway for everything to go through with no Heartless to block their way.

Things were finally getting to what they all had expected. Xehanrot and his group showed up and everyone split up to go after several of the members. Though it wasn't exactly what Riku was intending, he did end up finding the area were Ansem was along with the younger version of himself.

Right away he summoned his keyblade and charged at his younger self. He clashed keyblade to sword with them and much to his surprise they were at a standstill. At least it did seem surprising at first, but the further he thought about it… it was himself after all. He knew he had the strength and now this version of him had a little more darkness that he had before.

Everything was going fine until Xigbar decided to show up and make things difficult. With having to fight two Organization members it made things a little more challenging. It would have been three members, but Ansem was just floating over to the side, just watching everyone.

Then out of nowhere Sora came running in to the area. He ran right up to Riku and smiled at him. "Hey, hope I'm not too late."

Riku smiled. "You're just in time. Let's do this."

With Sora by his side Riku felt more confident than he did before. Though he was sure he could have managed on his own, it was a relief to have another person fighting by his side. With that they fought the three members, though it quickly became two when Ansem left to head off someplace else.

Eventually Xigbar was defeated, though he tried to escape from the area only to fall back off the top of the wall. After that it was just his younger self to take out. It was still hard, not only to hear himself taunting him but also because it was his own fighting style. Thankfully Sora was there to help and then he was defeated.

He staggered back, looking at his hand which was fading into darkness. "You're not… real…" he muttered while breathing heavily.

This caught Riku by surprise. "Huh?"

"I'm… the real one…" the younger one muttered while darkness was streaming off of him into the sky.

Riku felt even more confused than before. "Aren't you my past self? From when Ansem possessed me?"

Suddenly there was a hand on his shoulder, and he saw the glowing form of his replica floating besides him. "No, you beat Ansem and you're still here. Who this guy is… is me."

Riku watched as his replica flew forward and struck the other in the chest. Darkness spewed out as the other cried in pain. Riku could only stare with perplexion as he tried to wrap his head around what he was seeing.

"Wait… you mean…?"

When the darkness starts to fade more from the other Riku, it was shown to be now dressed in an Organization cloak with a vacant look in his eyes. The replica chuckled. "I knew it… that he was a replica. A replica of me… from when I thought I was the real you."

"Just another replica… a soon-to-be empty vessel. I've been waiting for a chance like this."

Before Riku could ask what the replica meant, he saw him move forward into the replica vessel itself. Darkness surrounded the entire thing but a moment later the replica's light form burst out, and now he carried the other replica in his arm, though the other was not light like he was, but instead still tainted by darkness.

The now empty vessel flopped down to the ground and Riku furrowed his brows. He thought for sure that his replica would take the vessel for himself. He was sure that was what he had meant. He stared up at his replica who still floating there, with his back turned to Riku. "Hey! What are you doing? Take the vessel!"

The replica barely even looked back before answering. "No." After that he finally turned to face Riku. "The world already has you. There's someone who needs the replica more. You know who I mean."

It only took Riku a moment to realize what he meant. "Namine. You're saving her." It seemed so noble… so kind and caring for him to do that. But it left Riku feeling empty inside seeing that his replica was sacrificing himself all for Namine. "But… you can't. You shouldn't have to make that choice."

"There isn't much else for me to choose. This is my choice," the replica replied.

"It doesn't have to be!" Riku shouted. "You should have a chance to live too!"

Slowly the replica shook his head. "I told you, the world already has you. There doesn't need to be two."

"But you _aren't_ me! Not anymore!" Riku exclaimed.

He knew at first the replica had been just that, a replica of him. Back in Castle Oblivion he thought his replica was defeated and there would be nothing more. Finding his heart in the Realm of Darkness had been a surprise, but Riku ended up not minding. The replica had changed his way of thinking and became much more of a good person. Plus he had been the only one Riku could talk to about what he felt, he was the only one that understood and listened. Without him there, there was an emptiness. He would be losing a friend if the replica went through with this choice, and that was the last thing that Riku wanted.

The replica pursed his lips, glancing to the side. He almost looked like he wanted to believe Riku, but there was still heavy doubt mixed into his face. "But…"

"You want to do this for Namine, you should be there for her. You shouldn't just give up your chance like this."

"I don't need to be the one to do that… I don't need to be around for anyone. You don't need me anymore. You, Namine, and everyone else will be fine without me."

Riku was going to say more, but he saw Sora, who had been quietly watching from the side, come closer. "I don't know what exactly is happening, but Riku is right. You shouldn't just give up your like that. Besides, Namine would want to see you again. I'm sure of that."

The replica's expression shifted again. "But what if there isn't a way to get another replica… what if this is the last one…"

"I'm sure we will find a way! We gotta!" Sora said proudly with a strong sense of determination.

"Please," Riku said speaking softly, but loud enough to be heard. He tried to say more, but everything refused to come out. His words were stuck as he watched his replica float a little closer to the vessel, his eyes still uncertain. Riku breathed in as he waited for his replica to make a move, hoping a good choice would be made.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... this chapter got off the rails of the main focus, but I love my good Riku Replica boy!  
> But now the debate, will he live or not?  
> I hope you are all still enjoying!


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a little bit, but I finally sorted out my thoughts and wrote this next chapter! Thank you everyone for waiting but let's go!

Riku waited, not knowing what else to say. He couldn't very well force his replica to take the empty vessel, but… he wasn't sure he could take the loss. It still was too much for him to think either way.

"All right," the replica said, finally speaking up after the long minutes of silence. He looked to the unconscious dark version of him in his arm. With a single breath he dropped the body. It dissolved into nothingness before it even hit the ground.

Quietly the replica flew back to the vessel and entered inside it. A moment later it took onto his features and his real eyes fluttered open. He stood up and took off the Organization cloak right away.

"I guess I'm really doing this, though…" he looked over to Riku. "The more I think about it, there has to be someone to keep you in check."

Riku smiled, walking right up to him without a word. Wrapping his arms around him, he sighed heavily. "Thank you."

"Yeah yeah, but you don't need to get all mushy. Save that for Sora," the replica whispered.

Riku's cheeks flushed red before he let go of his replica. "I'm just glad you're sticking around."

"Yeah I figured that much. Now all that's left is to figure a name for myself, since as you said I'm me not you."

"We'll figure something along the way, maybe we can just have something simple."

"Like what?"

"I honestly have no idea," Riku replied. He rubbed the back of his neck while he tried to think.

Sora then stepped up to the two boys, he still didn't really understand what had happened, but he knew Riku was happy. Whomever this other Riku look-a-like was, who was his own person at heart, did feel familiar though. But Sora figured that would be something to ask about another time.

"What about Ricky?" he finally asked when he saw a break to cut in.

The replica wrinkled his nose up. "What? What kind of name is that?"

Sora grinned. "Cause it rhymes with Mickey!"

"No," the replica deadpanned/ "That's dumb and plus I never have actually met Mickey!"

"Okay, how about something easier," Riku said, trying to give his best thought. "What about just Ri just for right now? Easy enough but we can figure out something later."

"Sure, I'll go with that," Ri replied.

"So you're going to help us out?" Sora asked seconds after.

"I mean I could… but I don't have a keyblade."

"Yes you do," Riku corrected. "I left my old one with you remember?"

"But that as just a symbolic thing, and beside it broke and-"

"You never actually have summoned it yet," Riku said, cutting him off. "Just give it a try. Trust me on this."

Ri's eyes shifted to the ground. He knew that they really did not have all the time in the world to stand around and aruge over the matter. There was still far more to be done and he really was the last of their concerns. But he still felt so unsure about it. He knew Riku had a point, but he had never thought he would still be around. He thought he would find his end in his sacrraced, but somehow he had now been talked out of it.

After a few more seconds he gave his answer. "Fine." Ri let out a huff of air before holding out his hand. He breathed deeply before a light flashed underneath his hand. Now in his grip was none other than Way to Dawn, in perfect condition.

"See? Riku smiled. "I was right."

"Sure, yeah I can see that. But now we can stop wasting time already," Ri said before dismissing the keyblade.

"Yeah, let's get to it," Riku said, singing to himself that things seemed to be looking on the brighter side.

After that the three of them split up, Sora went off to help out the rest of the guardians of light and Riku and Ri went off to go after Ansem. Eventually Mickey showed up and then eventually Sora, who seemed more distraught than before.

Once he had joined them to battle against Xemnas, Ansem, and the young Xehanort, everything seemed to run smoothly once more. That was all until they saw that Xehanort had gotten a hold of Kairi, after that now it all seemed in reverse. Things seemed to be going downhill with Xehanort using Kairi as the last part to get the X-blade to open Kingdom Hearts.

But somehow in the end they all managed to pull through and Xehanort was defeated. Though Kairi was still gone, and Riku could feel the weight in his chest. But he knew that Sora seemed to be worse off. He wasn't sure how much Sora still felt about her or where his mind was, but he could tell there was something that was hurting him much deeper.

" _I wonder what Sora must be thinking…"_ Riku thought as he saw Sora standing in front of everyone.

"It's finally over," Mickey said, breaking Riku from his concentration.

"... No…" Sora said, speaking softly.

Riku could hear how hurt Sora's voice was. He breathed out before he took a few steps forward towards him. "Sora, we'll find Kairi. Let's head back to Master Yen Sid. We can figure it out."

"No, I know what to do," Sora replied, shaking his head lightly.

"But Sora…"

"I gotta…" Sora replied. Slowly he turned around to face the entire group. "I need to do this, to find her. She's still my best friend though throughout my entire journey we kept getting seperated. But I kept looking cause that's what I do for my friends, any of them. Now she is out there again, alone. But I won't let that happen, not for one more second."

Donald and Goofy then stepped forward, saying they would go along to help, but Sora shook his head. "Thank you, Donald, Goofy. But this time I have to go it alone."

Something twitched in Riku's heart. Seeing Sora so determined to go out on his own again… all by himself… all for Kairi. He wanted to say something… something to try to make sure he wasn't overthinking the situation. But he just wasn't sure what he was to say… not yet at least. He stayed quiet, mulling over his thoughts as Mickey decided to speak up.

"Sora, listen. The power of waking isn't to go chasing hearts around! Even if you do locate Kairi, you might never come home to us again."

Sora shook his head, giving a small smile. "I will. And we'll both be back before you know it."

"Sora…" Riku said, not knowing what he was trying to say, but he needed to get something out. He needed the attention focused on him.

"Huh? What is it, Riku?"

"Let me at least go with you."

"Riku, no, I gotta do this myself," Sora replied softly, taking a few steps closer to Riku.

Fear crawled into Riku's thorat. Doubt and an unease settled there along with it. "But… I… What about me?" his voice fell hush, not wanting to make too much of a scene in front of the others.

Sora reached out and took hold of Riku's hands. "You don't have to worry Riku. I still love you, but Kairi is still my friend and I still care a lot for her too. I feel like I could have done more to save her, to help her. I need to do this."

"She's my friend too, Sora. I don't want you doing this on your own. I want to be there for you."

Sora smiled. It was his usual warm and adorable smile that Riku always had loved. The smile that seemed to always light up the situation. The very smile that made Riku's heart melt at the sight of it.

Sora gave Riku's hands a gentle squeeze. "You believe in me don't you?"

"Yeah," Riku said with a nod of his head.

"And you know what I gotta do. Besides I need you to stay back for me, because…"

Sora brought one of Riku's hands closer to his face. Gently he pressed his lips to the top of Riku's knuckles. That's all it was… soft and gentle. But that was more than what Riku could have ever expected.

Finally Sora looked up at Riku, still holding that wondrous smile. "Your heart will guide me home."

Riku's eyes started to blur. He usually was good at holding back on his emotions, but as of late he didn't seem to have a very good grasp on them anymore. He pulled his hands away from Sora and instead wrapped them around him. He breathed out deeply before burying his face into Sora's hair.

"Sora…"

"I'll be okay Riku, I promise. When I'm back we can finally talk about everything for us. Sounds good?"

"Yeah," Riku replied. "Sounds good."

Eventually Riku had to let go of Sora. As much as he wanted to keep him in his arms, he knew he had to let go. Sora's heart and mind were made up and this was the choice he wanted. Riku knew Sora would pull through, he always did in the end. But now Riku had to do what was needed. He would wait for Sora to return, and then he hoped everything could finally be peaceful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yes, I had Repliku live in this. I have my reasons for it besides just the want of it. That will be for later though.   
> Though now the debate should he stay as Ri or not XD  
> Anyways see you next time!


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys I just need to thank you all so much for all the love you have given this. It really means so much to me to know that my ideas are good and enjoyed.  
> I'm sorry I had a bit of writers block trying to get through it but here it is finally!

Riku waited.

He waited and waited for the moment that Sora would return. It was the only thing that was on his mind now and he could not shake off the fears and doubts that attach themselves to his mind.

Pacing, he watched as the waves came up to almost meet his boots, but instead just washed away his footprints he had created. All he could do was continue to move, back and forth, trying to calm his nerves.

"Are you sure you don't want to sit down?"

Riku turned and looked at the boy who shared his younger appearance. He was sitting down on the sand, seeming so much calmer than Riku was. It had been several days since what went down in the graveyard, but he had already been doing what he could to adjust.

Still a few things were hard for him here and there, but he was doing what he could to make it work. They even had settled on a name, with that being Neo since it meant 'new' and this was all a new start for him. A new life in being his own person.

Riku only wished he could be acting as calm as him right now. "I can't… I wouldn't be able to sit still."

"He promised you he would come back, didn't he? So why are you so worried? Neo asked.

"Cause… this is different than any of the other times… He was going after Kairi misusing the Power of Waking to do it… to bring her back. I'm just… afraid if…" Riku swallowed before he could finish. It was all getting lumped up in his throat anyways.

"Stop thinking the 'what ifs' cause they aren't going to help you at all."

"I know, I know," Riku said as he rolled his eyes. He could feel his palms beginning to sweat after a few more moments. He took off his gloves quickly and tried to dry them on the leg of his pants. Afterwards he slowly ran a hand through his hair, desperate to find anyway he could actually calm down. All of his nerves felt bunched up. Tightening with each passing second and he was sure they were going to snap if it went on any longer.

"You weren't this much of a nervous wreck at the party earlier. Why did it suddenly hit you now?

"Cause… cause I don't know!" Riku shouted exasperatedly

The party had gone fairly well. Everyone came to finally relax now that Xehanort was defeated. Though at first they all decided to wait a few days though as everyone took the time to relax for their own personal needs. In that time Namine was finally brought back by the help of those in Radiant Garden, and it was just in time for the party.

That was a whole other story when Riku and Neo went off to go and get her from Radiant Garden. Though Riku was happy to see the two reunite and have their moment, it made him long for his own moment with Sora.

Other than that everything else that went down during the party was perfectly fun and fine. But now that it was all over, all Riku could do was think about Sora and just where he was. There was nothing else he could even try to get his mind to focus on at this point. Though honestly he was worrying for both Kairi and Sora, it was mainly just Sora that was in his mind.

Suddenly there was something in the corner of his eye. He turned to look at the smaller island to see two figures there. His heart skipped a beat as he took off running all without a single word to Neo.

He ran as fast as he could across that bridge, entering on to the smaller island. Right away he ran to them and embraced both of them with open arms. He could hear their laughter afterwards and both of them returned a hug after that.

"Kairi… Sora…" Riku whispered softly.

"See, Riku?" Sora replied to him. "I told you I would come home."

"I know… I'm just glad to see you guys again," Riku said, his voice still soft.

There was a light laugh that came from Kairi. "Just make sure you don't crush us, okay?"

Riku right away let go of the both of them and took a couple of steps back. He rubbed the back of his neck while averting his eyes. "Sorry…" Slowly he looked back up though to meet Sora's eyes. Right away he could feel his face growing warm just from the sight of him.

Kairi cleared her throat quickly. "I guess… I'll leave you two alone now."

She took Sora's hand and gave it a quick squeeze. "Thank you again, Sora."

After that she ran off of the smaller island, leaving the two boys alone. Right away Sora nearly crashed into Riku's chest. He had to stand as strongly as he could to prevent himself from being knocked over.

"I'm sorry…"

"Huh? Sora, why would you be sorry?"

"Cause I didn't know before… I probably hurt you cause I was too oblivious…"

"Sora, I'm the one that should be sorry. I never had the courage to tell you before. I thought it was too late. I was only hurting myself by being so quiet."

Riku started to hold Sora even tighter, finally letting all the tension from his body escape. He was with Sora now. He was together now with Sora and things could finally just calm down and be peaceful.

"Riku…" Sora's voice came again, but this time something seemed off. He was quieter and sounded wary with his tone.

"What is it, Sora?"

"I… I um… I'm sorry…"

"You already said you were sorry. You don't need to be."

"No. I… It's something else…"

Riku pulled back from the hug, now looking at Sora, who hung his head low. Carefully Riku reached out and placed a hand on Sora's face. "Come on, Sora. You can tell me."

"I went too far doing all this…" Sora said, his voice even quieter now.

"Sora…" Riku said, trying to keep his calm. He could already feel the nervousness eating away at his stomach but he knew he had to try and stay strong. "What do you mean?"

Sora sighed and raised his hand up and right there Riku could see that Sora's hand was flickering and fading away. Riku's breath nearly stopped at the sight of it. He placed both his hands on top of Sora's shoulders and gripped him tightly.

"Sora. What's happening?"

"I think I did something wrong… with the power of waking…" Sora muttered. "And this is what's happening…" Sora started sniffling again before he finally raised his head to look back at Riku. Tears were streaming down his face at this point. "I'm sorry I messed all of this up before we could figure anything out."

Riku went right back to embracing Sora after that. "Sora… we'll… we're going to… I um."

Riku found himself unable to finish anything. Sora was fading away right before his eyes and he couldn't figure out what he could do. Was there anything that he could even do? He tried his hardest to think, but the aching in his heart made everything feel muddled.

"Riku…?" Sora asked. "Can you look at me again? Please?"

Riku slowly raised his head so he could look at Sora. Now he could see that Sora was using that wondrous smile again. "Yeah, Sora?"

"I'm sorry that I kind of messed this up… but," Sora leaned forward a bit. He rested his forehead against Riku's. "But I still love you Riku, and I believe in you."

"B-Believe in me?" Riku echoed as he let tears fill up in his eyes.

Sora nodded slightly, rubbing his forehead against Riku's. "I believe that you will find a way. You'll find me. I just know it."

"But Sora…"

"You can do it Riku. Whatever happens to me, I know you will find a way to get me back."

Riku wanted to reply, but his voice no longer worked. He could only stare at Sora while his vision blurred with tears. But there wasn't anything that he needed to do, for Sora decided to do one more thing.

The warmth of Sora's lips pressed against his own. It did alleviate the pain that he was feeling, but he knew that it was only temporary. Quickly he shoved the thoughts away and instead embraced every second that he had.

But eventually Sora pulled away, leaving a cold emptiness between them. Riku looked at Sora one last time, taking in that smile that lit up like the sun itself. His entire image was fading away before Riku's very eyes.

"Promise you will find a way?" Sora asked as he continued to fade away.

"You know I will," Riku said, his voice already scratchy and sore. "I'll find you and bring you back here. I'll make sure you'll never leave my sight again."

Smiling even wider than before Sora blinked away his tears. "Good. I look forward to it."

Riku reached out to Sora once more. Once more to hold him in his arms, but just as his hand got close, Sora entirely faded away. Riku stood there frozen with his hand extended outwards, expecting something to be there to greet it. But there was nothing there now but the open air.

His hand started to tremble as he felt all strength give out in his legs. Dropped to the ground he let the tears flow in full. His whole body shook while all the warmth he had felt seconds ago left him. Now he was alone and he could feel the coldness stabbing into his heart.

"S-Sora… Why..." Riku muttered, his voice too sore to continue speaking. " _I thought things could be over… we could just relax and be together. Why did…"_

Riku shook his head. " _No. Stop it. I got to… I need too…"_

Even though Riku's whole entire body felt weak and uncertain, he pushed himself to his feet. "I'll find you Sora. Nothing will be perfect again until I have you back in my arms. But I _will_ find you and bring you home."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think what I struggled most with was how to have the reunion and then so on. I am going to go further with this of course still so much to cover. So I hope to see you all next time! Hope you all enjoyed!


	15. Chapter 15

It took Riku all the energy he had left to walk back to the larger part of the island. Neo was still waiting for him, now with his arms crossed. He didn't look upset or annoyed, but instead he looked worried.

"Hey, are you going to be all right?"

"Yeah… I'll be fine… just need some time."

"And what about Kairi?"

Riku froze up. " _Kairi… where did she go? Is she even on the island anymore? Did… Did she see what happened to Sora?"_

"She headed off to the secret cave area after Sora… well… I think you should try talking to her."

Right away Riku shook his head. "No… I don't think I should…"

Now Neo started to frown in disapproval. "And why not?"

"Cause… I just can't. Not after what happened. I don't… I don't even know what she thinks of me anymore. What if she doesn't even want to talk to me?"

"Why?" Neo asked. "You think she hates you or something?"

Riku lowered his head. He wasn't entirely sure what she could think of him at this point. He knew how she felt about Sora… and then Sora came to him instead. Was she heartbroken like he was originally? Feeling alone with just her feelings? Or did she blame him for taking Sora from her?

No matter which way Riku tried to think about it, he always led himself to thinking that he had done something wrong. Kairi had spoken very few words to him once she returned with Sora, and how she was off in the secret place. Most likely right where that drawing was… the one that led to one of the painful aches in Riku's heart.

"You can't just ignore this. You're going to have to talk to her sooner than later."

Sighing Riku nodded. "I know… I just am unsure if I can bring myself to actually do it."

"Then do it now," Neo said before giving Riku a shove. "Get it over with and stuff otherwise you're probably going to put this off until it gets worse."

"But… what if-"

"She needs someone to talk to after this. It doesn't take a genius to figure that out. I'd do it, but she doesn't know me so it would be weird. But she does need someone."

Riku sighed yet again, knowing full well that Neo had the right idea about all of this. He had to smile at that though. "Since when did you get so smart about things like this?"

Neo snorted. "I don't know. Obviously not from you." After that he gave Riku another push. "Now come on, get going."

"All right… I'll try at least."

Riku still did not feel at all confident in what he was about to do. But he knew that Neo was right. If he were to hide from this and avoid it, later on it would only get worse. What needed to be talked about had to happen now otherwise everything would most likely drift apart. He had to give it a try at least even if Kairi did think differently of him now. Either way he knew that he still cared for her as a friend and he did truly want to help and comfort her.

Making his way through the cave, he could already hear the faint sounds of Kairi crying. Already he could feel the weight in his chest pulling him down but he proceeded forward. When he came around the corner he saw Kairi exactly where he figured she would be… right next to the cave drawing she had made with Sora.

As soon as he was in the area she raised her head and stared with her tear stained eyes. "R-Riku? I… I didn't think you'd come here…" Her eyes drifted to the drawing next to her and then back to Riku.

He knew he didn't need to say anything, not yet at least. He walked his way over to Kairi and sat down next to her, bringing his knees up to his chest. After a few moments he spoke up. "Do you… wanna talk? You know… about…?"

Even though he was unable to finish his words, Kairi picked up on it easily. "Yeah, I feel like I gotta get it off my chest." Kairi started to rub her arms slowly. "I feel like this is all my fault."

Riku turned to stare with wide eyes. "What? Kairi, no this isn't your fault."

"Of course it is!" Kairi snapped, the tears now streaming down her face once more. "I was weak and Xehanort captured me, leading to him getting the upper hand. My weakness is what caused Sora to…" Kairi choked back on a sob before she could even finish.

Right away Riku put an arm around her, pulling her into a tight embrace. "Kairi, it is not your fault. None of this was. You are not weak. Xehanort just was too many steps ahead of us."

"But still… if it weren't for me, then Sora wouldn't have-"

"Sora probably would have done something just as reckless anyways. You know he would."

"Y-Yeah… I guess you're right…" Kairi whispered.

"I feel though…" Riku started to say after a moment. Slowly he let go of Kairi and let her sit back up on her own. "I need to be the sorry one… I was being so quiet before and I just probably made things harder for you."

"Oh you mean… Rik, no. Don't you start acting like that. I had no idea that you felt that way. Why didn't you say anything before?"

Riku lowered his head. Kairi didn't seem mad at him but instead seemed curious. Now he just had to come clean with what he had hidden away so long ago. "I was afraid."

"You?" Kairi asked. She raised her eyebrows as she stared more intently at Riku. "You were afraid?"

Riku nodded solemnly. "Yeah… I always thought that my feelings wouldn't be returned. I had no confidence in bringing them up. I was also stupidly jealous… of you and Sora. Whenever I saw you two together I just denied what I wanted to feel cause I just… assumed and stuff…" Riku trailed off after that. He was just pouring out his thoughts here and he had no idea honestly how Kairi was going to react.

But much to his surprise she was still rather calm. She placed a hand lightly on Riku's arm and sighed. "Riku…"

"I'm sorry. I know I should have said something before. I've messed up so much at this point though. I just… I've always loved him. There's not a thing that I don't adore for him. But I just never thought that he felt that way about me."

"Well you know now that he does, right?"

"Yeah." Riku's voice came out barely over a whisper.

"I think honestly we both have something to be sorry about. You being quiet… and me trying too much without thinking. I never even considered what you could be feeling. I was only thinking about me and Sora at the time. Then… when we were at the paopu tree, that's when I realized there must have been more to this than I thought."

"Huh? What do you mean by that."

"Well…" Kairi stretched her arms a little. "When I talked to Sora about the battle we were preparing for. And I offered him the paopu fruit. He looked so confused for some reason… almost hesitant. It wasn't until after he saw you walk off to the otherside of the island did he decide to speak up."

Riku was now having all attention on Kairi. Though originally he didn't even want to think about that time when he saw them together, now he was curious. Had they actually shared the paopu fruit or not? Or did something different happen? Slowly Riku opened his mouth to ask the next question. "What did he say?"

Kairi breathed in deeply. She closed her eyes, as if recalling the moment in her mind. "We had just shared our paopu fruits when Sora's eyes drifted to the door leading to the other side of the island. He looked worried and it was clear his focus was elsewhere…"

* * *

" _Sora? Hey, you doing okay?"_

" _Oh!" Sora blinked a couple of times before looking back at me. "Y-Yeah… yeah I'm fine."_

_I knew fully well that whatever it was that was on his mind wasn't just 'fine', but Sora was easily one to avoid such things. But with Sora being Sora, it would take a bit of coaxing to get him to talk about whatever it was._

" _Come on Sora, you can tell me."_

_Sora shook his head and started to smile again. "Nah, I said it was fine. I know it's probably fine."_

" _Sora…"_

_I waited for him to respond but now he had gone quiet. Now was the time to try again. I reached forward and placed a hand on his knee. "I'm here for you, Sora. You can tell me what's on your mind."_

_Sora nodded, giving a smile. "Yeah. Thanks. I was just thinking… about Riku."_

" _Riku? What about him?"_

_I watched as Sora's shoulders slumped. "I just… he just headed off there. I don't know why though. I'm worried about him. After I went to the Realm of Darkness to help him out, I haven't been able to stop thinking about him."_

" _Oh, I see. Well why don't you go talk to him then?"_

_Sora started to shift slightly, looking more worried than before. "But I thought you said he needed some time alone."_

_It was true I had told him that, but I also knew how close Riku and Sora were. "I'm sure he wouldn't mind if you want to talk to him."_

" _But I just… I don't know what to…"_

" _What to… what?"_

_Sora looked at me with sadden eyes. He looked briefly down to the paopu fruit in his hands and then back to me. "Kairi… Can I tell you something? I mean can I actually tell you? I know you'll listen and stuff, but I just…ah…"_

" _It's okay, Sora. You can tell me."_

" _I don't know why… but I've just been thinking about Riku a lot lately. We've always had a lot of time apart in these journeys. Now we are finally going to be together and…" Sora sighed deeply. "I just want to stay by his side."_

_It only took me a few moments until I realized just what Sora could have possibly been. There was a slight bit of red on Sora's face after he had spoken. "Sora, what do you think about Riku?"_

" _I… I don't know what to think. I feel confused…" Sora sighed once more as he closed his eyes. "Like I know he is my best friend… but…"_

" _But you feel like there's something else?" I asked softly._

" _Yeah! That's it! Do you know what it means?"_

_I couldn't help but laugh at Sora's naive personailty. It was awfully cute, but at the same time I could feel a little heaviness in my chest. Either way I knew I needed to give the right answer to Sora. "I think… you might love him, Sora."_

" _Love? I keep hearing that a lot on my journey… but I just don't understand it."_

_I smiled warmly at Sora. "I think that's just something you need to discover on your own."_

* * *

"After that I told him that he should go and tell you how he was feeling. I went home after that so I never knew what exactly happened, but looks like in the end you two worked it out."

"Yeah… are you sure you are okay? Didn't you have feelings for him?"

Kairi nodded. "Yeah, but I'm just happy as long as we are still friends. Besides," Kairi started to laugh lightly. "It's kind of funny when I look back at it."

"How so?"

"I always thought that you and Sora were fighting over me. But now I realize that wasn't the case. It was actually you and me fighting over Sora."

Riku found himself to laugh a little. "I guess that could be true."

"But now we need to work together and find a way to get Sora back," Kairi said as her voice was no longer sore and tired. Instead it started to sound more and more determined.

Riku nodded to her, happy that she didn't actually hate him. All the fear and doubt that had filled him before was now gone and he actually could feel some confidence growing. "Right. Let's start looking into this tomorrow."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took quiet a random turn with the Kairi section. But either way hope you all enjoyed! And thank you so much for over 100 kudos T.T I never thought that would happen. But just thank you all so much!


	16. Chapter 16

The days had started to blur in Riku's mind. No longer could he remember how long it had been since he had started doing whatever he could to look for Sora. He only knew that more than just a fair share of days had passed. Maybe it had been weeks at this point… or even a couple of months.

Honestly he didn't want to know how much time had passed. If he had been counting the days since Sora's disappearance, then he would have driven himself crazy by this point. He needed to at least try and maintain a level of calmness, despite every pain and twist that he felt in his heart.

What made it harder were the days where he felt completely useless… completely hopeless. Nothing had been found, no leads or even a slight hint of a clue. Those days he felt so isolated from everyone else, and he couldn't bring himself to talk about it.

He knew that Kairi would have talked to him if she could, but early on in their search Kairi decided maybe she had the answers within her or at least some clues. She willingly went to Radiant Garden to be observed in her sleep from her thoughts to any memories that could have been hidden. Both Kairi and Riku hoped maybe something could have been found from that. Maybe hidden away was the answer to where Sora had gone… but nothing had been found as of yet.

Riku felt like he would have drowned himself in his sorrows by this point, but there was still one other person that he knew he could talk with. One other who was close enough to him to understand and listen.

Neo, his friend and technical younger brother. He was truthfully the only one who knew Riku better than anyone currently. When those painful days came where Riku wanted to shut himself away, not wanting to talk, Neo would come to talk to him anyway. He was rather stubborn about it, but that was just a part of his nature aside from the snarky attitude. But beneath those layers though was a caring side that only Riku and Namine got to see.

It did make Riku feel a little better that what was once just a replica of him had grown so much in such a short amount of time. He knew the way Neo expressed his care was truly genuine, and he was trying to show that even right now.

Riku currently had wrapped himself up in his bed sheets and Neo was standing over him, giving a disapproving glare. "You are not going to try and lock yourself in your room again all day."

"Then what am I going to do?" Riku muttered softly.

"You keep on trying, don't tell me you decided to give up?" Neo asked as he sat on the edge of the bed.

"No.. haven't given up. It's just…" Riku paused, letting out a long sigh. "I just feel like we're not getting any closer."

Neo scoffed. "Well of course we aren't getting any closer when you just lay around all day."

Riku sat up as he sent him a sharp glare. Neo just shrugged casually, not at all phased by Riku's expression. "What? You know it's true. Moping around is not going to help us do anything."

Riku slumped his shoulders. He knew full well that Neo was right, nothing would get done if he just stayed in his room. But it was just getting so hard to go out there only to turn up empty handed day after day after day.

"Hey… I know you are feeling drained from it all. You know, it's okay if you want to rest a bit," Neo said as he reached forward to place a hand on Riku's shoulder. That was something else that Riku was thankful for. Even if they never talked about it or pointed it out, with Neo being a replica of him, they had a connection unlike the others. It wasn't like a Nobody and their Somebody like Namine and Kairi, or even Ventus and Roxas.

The two of them just had a connection to each other, maybe truthly like brothers or even twins in a way. They looked out for one another and just knew how the other was feeling, even if they weren't able to tell exactly to a point.

"But…" Riku started. He took in a deep breath, trying to figure out how to explain what he was thinking. If he could just get it off his chest, maybe he would finally feel better about it. "But I'm just conflicted. I'm upset we haven't found anything yet, but I'm afraid to lay around too much because we might miss something important."

"You cannot just push yourself to your limit, Riku. You'll strain yourself if you do that."

"Then what can I do!?" Riku snapped suddenly. "Sora's out there… somewhere out there where we apparently can't reach him. He could be alone… scared or hurt. He could be in danger and I… I need to get to him!"

"Riku! Calm down! We are going to find him. Everyone is working together, remember? We are all doing whatever we can to find him and bring him home!"

"But I'm the one that promised him!" Riku couldn't keep himself from crying at this point. The tears were just too strong to hold back and they flowed down his cheeks. He had been holding all of it back for far too long and now there was no stopping the inner turmoil of his emotions.

"I promised him…" he repeated. "I was the one that promised to bring him home."

"And you will," Neo said, trying to be reassuring. He could see how broken up Riku was, the cracks in his mask of confidence were broken. Here underneath was Riku's true face, a face that was hurt and broken. Neo moved a little closer and wrapped an arm around Riku, trying his best to give him the comfort that he needed.

Right away Riku leaned towards Neo, the sobs still coming out with no sign of stopping. With his other hand, Neo placed it on top of Riku's head. He patted it gently. "We all will work to find Sora, but you are the one that will bring him back in the end. Then after that you two will get to be sappy saps together all you want."

It sounded like the stupidest thing he had ever said, but thankfully that did manage to get a small laugh from Riku. "He's the sap though."

"Nah, you two both are totally foolish idiots, especially when together," Neo replied. "You two become even greater idiots that way."

Riku laughed again. "I guess so."

"We are going to keep trying. You know very well that Sora wouldn't want you to give up, right?"

Riku nodded. He knew that was true. Sora never would want him to give up, and he rightfully didn't want to give up either. As long as Sora was still out there, he still had to look for him. He would search every world, every book, he would look for anything that could be a clue to where Sora could be. Until he could find Sora, he knew he wouldn't be able to get a good night's rest… he knew already his sleep was messed up for more than one reason. But of course he tried his best to just put that out of mind. It was nothing after all. Nothing but dreams that plagued him with more worry on top of everything else.

Sighing as he finally sat back up, he smiled at Neo. "Thanks Neo. You're right., I'm glad you are here to keep my head on straight."

"Well if I wasn't here I am sure it would have fallen off a while ago," Neo said as he gave Riku a light shove.

"You really think I am that foolish?" Riku said as he shoved him back.

"Well yeah, cause I am clearly the smarter between the two of us. I don't get my head lost up in the clouds."

Riku snorted. "You don't? Then what's with that silly look you get when you're around Namine?"

"Hey! That is completely different!" Neo pouted, trying to defend his cool and strong attitude.

"Sure it is. We may be different at heart, but we still have some similarities, especially when it comes to the ones we love."

Neo's face reddened. He crossed his arms and didn't let up from his pouting expression. "Well whatever. I'm still better and I am keeping you in check."

"Yeah yeah, I know you are. Thanks again."

"No problem," Neo replied, his blush fading away. "Just remember to take care of yourself, all right?"

"Yeah, I will."

With a deep breath Riku pushed himself up to his feet. He didn't feel a flow of fresh new energy, he hadn't felt like that in a long while, but he was feeling better. He still wasn't ready to give up. He wouldn't give up, not ever. As long as Sora was still out there he still had to keep on trying to bring him home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh wow, It's been a while hasn't it?   
> Not only did I get stuck but I also got on a small FF7 binge among other things. BUT I AM BACK with new thoughts and ideas! 
> 
> Thank you all so much again for all your love on this story. See you next time!


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been sometime but I finally got myself together on this. It just took some thought (more explanation at the end notes)
> 
> But thank you all so much for all the kudos and love and everything on this 🥺 it means so much and I am sorry I took so long. (Final Fantasy 7 and 15 took control of me)

A year.

An entire year.

It has been a year now since they began their search for Sora, and still there was nothing. Not a thing had come up as a clue to help them. Everyone was still just as they were when they started. There was just nothing for them to find, nothing at all no matter where they searched, and Riku never felt more tired in all of his life.

He stood in front of the mirror, staring at this reflection. He could see the bags that had formed under his eyes and how disheveled his hair had become. He nearly didn't have any effort to comb it out to look presentable, but he knew he needed to look decent. Couldn't have anyone worrying that he was losing sleep over this matter, everyone needed to believe he was still going strong. They needed to believe that he wasn't starting to doubt everything including himself.

Sighing, he ran his hand though his hair before he began to brush it out. There wasn't a whole lot of time that he could waste for today. After he cleaned up as best as he could he headed out of the bathroom and towards the front door.

Neo was already standing there, leaning his back against the wall with arms crossed. His hair was much longer now, almost to the length that Riku had it when he had turned 16. Though compared to Riku, Neo had his hair neatly pulled back into a tight ponytail. Not only that but he had grown as well, something he was truly thankful that his new replica body could do. Now a year later he nearly stood at the same height as Riku, with Riku only an inch taller at this point.

"Ready to move out?" Neo asked once Riku was close enough.

Riku sighed for a moment, letting the weight sink into his mind. "Yeah, let's go."

The two of them headed out of the house, making their way down towards the docks. From there they took their boats to the smaller island, where a gummi ship was waiting for them on the other side of the island.

From there they piloted out of Destiny Islands, their destination being Radiant Garden. Riku wanted to hold hope that this mission could actually find something, but his heart was still wavering. He tried to scold himself over it, reminding himself that he was doing all of this for Sora. He promised to find him and bring him home… and yet he still hadn't done that.

Gripped the steering wheel he tried his hardest to not think about it. He needed a clear mind today. No need to let anything negative or worrying cloud his mind. He took a deep breath before he was finally able to loosen his grip a little.

"Hey, you feeling all right? I can drive if you need me to," Neo replied, clearly sensing the tension that Riku had been feeling.

Riku shook his head though. "No I am fine. Just thinking about what we'll tell them."

"You mean you didn't think about it ahead of time? Are you sure you're okay? I'd think you'd be on top of it to plan out what we were going to tell them."

"I just didn't, okay?" Riku said, sounding a little more snipping than he wanted to. "Sorry… I guess I just didn't get much sleep last night because of this." It wasn't a complete lie, but it was still far from the truth at the same time. But there was no way Riku was going to bring any of that up, even to his brother.

When they got to Radiant Garden, they went to Merlin's house where they found; Leon, Aerith, Yuffie, and Cid. Off the bat the brother's needed a bit more of a proper introduction to the Radiant Garden crew, while they had talked over the gummi phone before they never properly met any of them. After that, the brothers began to talk to the first three while Cid busied himself with something on his computer.

"But if we still remember him, then he must still be with us," Aerith replied as they continued on with their conversation.

Leon nodded in agreement. "Yes, that would stand to reason."

"But we've been searching everywhere for Sora, and we haven't found a single clue. If he's really out there, don't you think we would have found something by now?" Riku added, trying as hard as he could to not let his own words piece his heart further with doubt.

"That's why we gotta keep trying," Neo added. "Whatever the clues are, they must just be really well hidden."

"Cid's been looking into the data for a year now. Aren't the people at the castle doing the same thing? No one's found anything yet?" Leon asked.

"Well…" Riku started. "It's outside their field of expertise."

After that there came a small banter between Cid and Yuffie, with her complaining that he was like a broken record as he went on about how close he was. Leon thankfully brought the conversation back on track with asking how the others were doing in the search. Riku was doing fine explaining everything, until Aerith asked one certain thing.

"And what about Kairi?"

Riku let out a sharp exhale that he was sure all the others could hear. Slowly his eyes drifted to the floor as he felt that sinking feeling in his heart resurface. "Kairi… she believes her heart might hold a clue about Sora. For a year… she's been sound asleep while they search her heart…"

"So there's been no progress.

Riku closed his eyes as he sighed, letting his heart continue to feel like it was drowning. Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder, and Neo gave him a concerned stare. Riku nodded slightly, curling up his lips to give a thankfully smile.

"What in the-!" Cid's loud voice interrupted. "What in the world is this?!"

From Cid's explanation, the data he had been given, as well as that he already had, was now merged and now an image of Sora was on the screen. Riku's heart nearly skipped a beat at the site of Sora. A year without seeing him… only memories and pictures were what had pulled him through before. But now there was a Sora on the screen, like watching a video or like the times he video called with him during their last journey.

"S-Sora?" Riku muttered louder than he thought.

"Sora's inside the computer?" Yuffie asked.

"No no. That's just the data I constructed based on Sora and his fightin' abilities."

Further explanation from Cid showed that he not only recreated Sora in data form, but also the real Organization as well," he adjusted the screen and show this data Sora was now in a room that had thirteen doors in a circular room.

Though the one downside was that Cid said the data was too powerful for him to access any of it. But with the suggestion from Leon, they were going to use Sora's data to try and gain access.

"So it'll be like a video game?" Yuffie asked.

"I guess," Cid said as he typed in some commands. "Or like some kind of simulation. Either way it's gonna be a tough one."

"Well you should let one of us do it then!" Yuffie exclaimed. "You're too old for video games anyway!"

Cid grumbled as he furrowed his brow. "How about a little thank you instead!? I've been at this for a year so a little appreciation would be nice for once!"

"Yuffie is right though, if this is as challenging as you said, then one of us may be better at it," Leon offered before turning to Riku and Neo. "I suppose the two of you would want to give it a try?"

Riku nodded as he moved forward, taking the seat in front of the computer. Tears pickled his eyes as he started to use the controls to move this data Sora around. Somehow with the data that Cid had, there were even sound files that played using Sora's voice. How that was found, Riku didn't know, but he wasn't angry about it. It gave him a small sense of relief to hear that voice again, even if it was just the sound of him attacking. It was something that he could hold onto for hope, something to remind him that Sora was in fact still out there. This way could be the way to get closer finally… he could hope at least. All he could do at this point was hope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so aside from the FF games that I've been having fun with, I also have been debating. Once I get through the limit cut stuff here, I think I will end the story, but I will make a sequel carrying on from there. 
> 
> It just will take more planning since I will make it an AU based off the little information we know for the next KH games and all. But let me know your thoughts and I'll see you next time!


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEY SO I'M BACK!!!   
> So sorry for the long wait on this but seriously I had some bad writer's block for it for the longest time. But now I am back!! 
> 
> ALSO as of this chapter I have NOT played KH MoM yet but I will be playing it soon (so no spoilers please!).

Riku's eyes felt tired and strained as he continued to stare at the brightly illuminated screen. He kept blinking, trying to stay awake. Even though the screen was glowing in his face, his own tiredness was overpowering him. The amount of time he had put into this he wasn't sure anymore. He had stopped checking the time after the task turned into days.

Rubbing his eyes Riku leaned back in his chair as he sighed. The words on the screen were telling him to restart the simulation. It was another failed attempt. So many tries had gone into this and he had made some progress, he had been able to clear out some of the Organization's data, but he wasn't even half way done.

The simulations had been as tough as Riku would have expected them but also far more at the same time. He had played plenty of challenging video games in his day, but they were nothing compared to this.

He was so tired at this point he could barely focus. His eyes felt heavy and he found himself to be nodding off far more than he would have wished. There was no way he was going to nap. There was no time to waste on trying to sleep when he had to take care of this simulation. He still needed his answers to where Sora went and if they could give them to him he needed it done as soon as possible.

But sleep seemed to be dragging his mind down. His eyes refused to stay open and he could already feel his focus fading away. He closed his eyes once more and right away everything faded back to black. When he opened them again he found himself where he had been dreaming for the past several months. It was the same thing over and over and nothing ever seemed to change no matter how hard he tried.

Everything was the same and he could never find Sora. There was no hint or clue at all where Sora was and it was just beginning to feel hopeless. This wasn't a dream, it was an internal nightmare reminding him of all his failures. He couldn't succeed at anything anymore and he was left to drown in everything he couldn't do.

Suddenly he was awake and found someone was shaking his shoulder. He looked over and saw that it was Neo. He could tell Neo was probably going to scold him due to the concern that he wore on his face. With a sign he looked away and waited for the inevitable to happen.

"Riku… you're still going at this? Why not let me or one of the others take over for a day?"

Riku shook his head. "I can't… I've come so far. I can't give up."

"You haven't gotten a proper night's sleep in days! You spend almost all your time here! You need a break!"

"I can't though! I can't waste anymore time!" Tears were pricking at Riku's eyes. He had tried but all of that suppressed emotion was finally showing. "I'm tired and I'm just… I just want to find him. I promised I would."

"Yeah I know you promised him but that doesn't mean disregard your own self care! You know Sora wouldn't want-"

"Stop saying what Sora wouldn't want!" Riku snarled. "You're not Sora! You can't keep telling me what you think he would or wouldn't want!"

Neo sighed. "Riku… I'm only trying to help. You're pushing yourself to do everything again. You need to get some sleep. Please."

"Some sleep… yeah right. I need sleep just so I can be reminded what a failure I am? I'm sick and tired of being plagued by dreams that remind me of my failure!"

He never expected to let the words slip out. With the concerns around his dream he never had any want or reason to speak out about them. Originally he had thought it would be best to just keep it a secret, not wanting to bother anyone else. It was supposed to just be his problem and no one else's.

"What?" Neo finally asked.

"N-Nothing. I didn't say anything."

Neo grabbed onto Riku's shoulders. He turned the chair to face him and now was glaring directly into his eyes. "Riku as your brother it's my job to help you! I came back not only because I wanted to see Namine but also because I saw you needed me. You needed a brother by your side. I know that you like to keep a lot of emotion to yourself but you need to talk to me!"

Riku lowered his head. Deep down he knew that Neo was right. He knew that in the end Neo had his points and he should listen. But it just had become so hard as of late to really grasp that concept. Sora was his goal before and still was. He had done so much on his own and over the past year he had tried relying more on others. He had made some progress but now he just had taken a step back as the dreams grew stronger for him. Something about them made him feel fearful like he used to back before his first adventure started.

"I don't know where to begin…" Riku whispered finally, his voice sore and weak. He barely had the strength to talk anymore, all of his energy draining from him once more.

"How about backing up this thing about dreams? That could be a start?"

"I don't even know…" Riku admitted. For a moment his eyes drifted to the computer screen where the data Sora was standing waiting for input commands. Even if he was just data and a simulation he would move around in place if idle too long, exhibiting traits that were so Sora. It left an empty pain in his chest only being able to watch it. He couldn't actually be there next to Sora, or better yet have Sora next to him. He was still so far away… and still had no idea when he could get what he lost back.

Finally he looked back to his brother. "Okay… I'll try…"

With a deep breath he began to explain what his dreams were about and how often he had them. Neo listened carefully, nodded as Riku explained all the way until he finished. "So that's it? You are just searching and then wake up before anything big happens?"

"Yeah… nothing ever happens. It's just the same thing over and over… I must be going crazy."

"No, I don't think so. Maybe it's just your mind telling you Sora is still out there? So you can't give up… or um something?"

"I don't know… It just feels different than a normal dream… and not like the time I was in the sleeping worlds. It's just… different and I wish something would change or I could just stop dreaming about it."

"Maybe you are just too stressed. You've been at this computer stuff for days… when was the last time you got a proper night's sleep?"

"I've been having these dreams long before this," Riku answered slightly bitter.

"Okay then," Neo cleared his throat. "When was the last time you got a proper night's sleep since Sora disappeared?"

Riku had no answer this time, he could only lower his head and sigh.

"Ah you see? You probably just need rest. Please Riku… take some time to sleep and I'll take over the computer stuff okay?"

Riku wanted to argue. He wanted to say more, but he honestly just didn't have the energy to do anything anymore. "If anything happens-"

Neo placed a hand on Riku's shoulder. He gave him an honest smile after a moment. "I promise I'll let you know okay? Just please get some rest."

Getting up from the chair he made his way over to the makeshift bed that was made for him. With a heavy sigh he flopped down onto it as he watched Neo take a seat at the computer. He could only watch for a few moments before rolling onto his other side so he wouldn't have to watch. Sleep was still trying to claim him and he could feel his mind drifting back off. There wasn't much he could hope for in his dreams, all he could do now was wait and see.

* * *

The days passed again and still Riku's dreams persisted, but he was able to get a little more sleep at least. Even though the dreams were still bothering him he did feel a bit more refreshed after letting Neo take over the computer work for a couple days. But after Riku felt rested he went back to being the main one to take care of it. Together they had progressed further in the simulation and now they had taken out every simulation of the Organization member.

All Cid had to do now was type in a few things and there was a chance that they could have their answers. But when Cid did what he could a warning popped up on the screen reading " **Sora" Data is Not Updated**. The computer automatically shut off after and the group was left to stare in silence.

Eventually Cid sighed and spoke first. "No sign of the boy."

"What a bumper," Yuffie replied as she placed her hands behind her head.

Suddenly blue lights appeared behind her and an old woman in a blue cloak appeared. Aerith smiled warmly and greeted her first. "Fairy Godmother!"

Fairy Godmother chuckled lightly. "Oh-ho-ho, I hope I didn't startle you."

"Not at all. What brings you here?"

"Well dear, I was asked to come by Merlin and Master Yen Sid. Now, where is… Oh, Riku! Yes, Riku is his name.

Neo nudged Riku in his side, prompting him to speak up. "Uh, I'm Riku." He stepped forward to come a little closer to Fairy Godmother

She smiled warmly at him. "Why, it's nice to meet you. Now, I'd like you to tell me about the dreams you've been having, dear."

This caught both Riku and Neo off guard. Riku couldn't understand how in the world she would even know something like that. Neo was the only one he had actually talked to about it. "Huh? My… dreams?"

He sighed, lowering his head. He knew that she had to have been talking about _that_ dream. The only dream that he had been having for months on end now. He had already talked about it to Neo, but now he was in front of the entire group. He wasn't too sure how he was going to handle expressing this.

Suddenly he felt Neo's hand on his back. He was trying to give a small comforting smile and ie helped Riku feel a bit more at ease. With a deep breath he began to explain his dream to the rest of the group even though it brought his heart pain.

When he finished Yuffie asked him to go on next but he could only shake his head, telling them that was all that he remembered. It was always the same when he woke, always ending on the same part. Getting more sleep didn't change any of that sadly.

"Well what happens next?" Cid asked in exasperation.

"Oh, I know," Fairy Godmother replied with a rather curious smile.

"What?" Riku asked softly under his breath. That didn't make any sense. Her knowing about his reams was one thing, but knowing how they ended? That was just stranger than the first part.

"Why Riku's dream?" Leon asked next.

"Oh, because Master Yen Sid was worried. You weren't having any luck finding Sora. And because Riku had been in Sora's dreams before, he thought perhaps Riku just may be the key. That's why he and Merlin asked me to come here and look into his dreams, since of course dreams are my specialty."

Riku almost tuned out what the others were saying. Fairy Godmother's words were still echoing in his head and he couldn't seem to grasp it yet. He felt Neo nudging him a moment later and he looked up to see everyone looking at him again. "What?"

"Fairy Godmother says three could be a key in your dreams to finding Sora," Neo replied.

Riku normally would have jumped on the idea that it could be possible. If it had happened months ago he would have been eager to know more. But now… he didn't know what to think. It had been an entire year since Sora vanished. He already spent almost a year before with Sora in a memory pod… but this was far worse. This time he had no idea where Sora was or if he was even okay.

"In my dreams…?" his voice was wary, revealing just how uncertain he was of the whole situation.

Neo moved to give a small side hug to Riku. "Hey come on, don't be like that. This could be a very good thing."

"Yes that's right," Fairy Godmother replied. "I hate to see such a saddened heart, so let me help, okay dear?"

"I guess so…"

"That's what I like to hear! Now come we must take a look inside your dreams to see what we can do about them."

Riku breathed in as he tried to prepare himself for what was next. He had no idea what to expect, but he tried to find hope again. Even if the dreams haunted him of not finding Sora, maybe he could actually turn it around in the end. He just had to wait and find out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah this is finally what I got to go on! Next I will be figuring out what to do next. I'll probably be going off on my own canon divergence but first gotta figure out how I wanna do it. 
> 
> Anyways see you next time!


End file.
